Flying Solo
by DarkElements10
Summary: As pressure at Eden Hall builds, the Ducks take their frustrations out on each other.
1. Ducks Fly Together (Part One)

**Flying Solo**

**By Rhuben**

**Summary-As pressure at Eden Hall builds, the Ducks take their frustrations out on each other.**

* * *

**01:**

**Ducks Fly Together**

**(Part One)  
**

* * *

_Home. They, whoever "they" are, always say "Home is Where the Heart Is" but for me, home is where home is. Minnesota is my home, always has been, always will be. It's where I grew up, it's where I had my height measured, where I got my first stitches. Nothing could compare to it. Not even Eden Hall.  
_

* * *

"Mom, would you stop looking at me like that?"

Charlie Conway slowed the movement of the bristles raking paths through his hair as he gave his mother's reflection an amused look. He set his wooden brush down onto the side of the sink before turning to face his mom, Casey Conway as she leaned in the bathroom doorway.

The corners of her lips were pulled up into a smile. Her hand was placed over her lips, fingers curled to press her fingertips into her lips, probably to stop her sobs that were threatening to slip past. Her cheeks were a bright pink, and her eyes were misty with the tears that had threatened to fall despite her blinking rapidly to try and clear her eyes.

She had promised she wouldn't get worked up and as usual, it looked like she wasn't able to control herself enough to follow through with it.

"I'm sorry," Casey replied, slowly shaking her head, keeping the smile on her face. She stepped closer to her son and lifted her hands and placed them on his cheeks. "I'm just so proud of you." Charlie's lips pulled back into a smile. "It's not every day my son gets a full scholarship to Eden Hall Academy."

Even Charlie couldn't believe it; still, as he was preparing to head over to the ceremony where he, and his friends, would officially accept their hockey scholarships into Eden Hall Academy as the new freshmen team. He had to chalk it up to being one of the best moments in his life (nothing could beat going to the Junior Goodwill Games and being recognized as the USA Mighty Ducks) as he never thought he'd ever be able to get into a school as lavish as Eden Hall.

Things had been pretty hard for him and his mom ever since his dad had left them, but they were taking it through everything together. He wanted to help out with the finances, but his mom had told him time and time again his only job was to be a kid and to have fun. And there was nothing he had more fun doing than playing hockey.

If it wasn't for his mom, always supporting him and picking him back up when things got hard, he didn't know how far his hockey career would take him. Now, having the opportunity to attend Eden Hall, he knew that it could jumpstart his career in many ways. And as an added bonus, Coach Bombay had attended Eden Hall.

"Yeah, I know," Charlie replied, bowing his head for a moment. Casey took that moment to stand on her tiptoes to place a kiss on his forehead. "Awww, mom!"

"I remember when you got your first skating lesson," Casey said, her voice filling with emotion. Charlie briefly closed his eyes, his chest swelling as he dragged in a deep breath of air before letting it out in a huff.

"Moo-o-oom!"

"And now you're starting high school at Eden Hall," she continued as if he hadn't said anything. "It's a great school. Your father would be so proud."

Charlie could feel her freeze for a brief moment. Her eyes searched his for a brief moment before shifting, turning away from him. Charlie's lips twisted to the side before stepping forward to give his mom a hug. "I know," he said quietly, feeling her tight grip around his torso. "Thanks, mom. I love you."

"I love you, too, Charlie," Casey replied quietly. She patted his arms as she pulled back, giving him a close-lipped smile. "Now, let me get your jersey, and we're all ready to go." She gave him another quick hug before hurrying through their home. "We don't want to be late."

"Of course not," Charlie muttered to himself, stepping back into the bathroom. He peered at his reflection before reaching his hands up to adjust his tie. He sniffed, angling his head back slightly and said, in the best '"rich accent" he could muster, "Wasted time is wasted money after all" and let out a mocking laugh.

He dropped his arms down to his sides, his fingertips smacking the legs of his dress pants. He gripped the collar of his shirt, pulling it out slightly, frowning at his reflection as he twisted his head this way and that. _What am I doing? _He thought with a sigh, peering down at his dressy clothes with a sigh. He'd take a t-shirt and jeans any day. _Eden Hall? Me?_

"Come on, Charlie, we have to get going," Casey said as she made her way back into hall.

She had Charlie's newly cleaned, bright white Ducks jersey. She shook it out before holding it up by the sleeves. Charlie smiled at the logo before reaching out his hands take the jersey. He quickly slipped it on over his head, running his hands down the sides, smoothing it out.

_Much better, _Charlie thought with a smile. He lifted his head to share a smile before brushing past her, making his way out of their home and out to the car. He laughed lightly at the scratches and slight dents at the side of the car facing the home.

For years, he has used the family car as a makeshift hockey net when shooting into the street and as boards whenever he, Goldberg, and Guy had roller hockey games. All those years he had dented and scraped car after car he was surprised his mom hadn't complained about it by now. The only big event being when he had accidentally blew out a window working on his left side shot in the off-season. But, he had learned his lesson; one week without his hockey gear. It was torture.

Charlie reached for the door handle and popped it open before climbing inside, pulling the seatbelt over his chest, sliding it into its holder with a loud _click_. He stretched his legs out in front of him as far as he could as his mom climbed into the divers' seat. Minutes later, they were on their way to Eden Hall.

Greens, blues, and grays mixed together as the scenery shot past his window as they made their way through Minneapolis, Minnesota. He tapped his fingers on the windowsill as he stared out the window as they got farther and farther away from home. An odd feeling sat in the pit of his stomach, growing more and more noticeable the farther out they traveled.

"Charlie, you've been really quiet today," Casey commented, glancing over at him out of the corner of her eye. "Is everything ok?"

"Just thinking," Charlie replied, removing his gaze from the window before looking over at her. "It's just kind of weird that I won't be going to Roosevelt with Peter, or Jesse, or Karp, that's all."

"Well, honey, you know that giving up hockey was a tough decision for them," Casey replied quietly. "Hockey doesn't become a lasting career for everybody."

"I know," Charlie replied, nodding his head. "I just started this all with them. I wouldn't even be into hockey if it wasn't for them." His lips curled up into a half smile. "We started the Ducks together."

"It doesn't mean that they're not a Duck at heart," Casey replied. "Adam wasn't a duck at first and neither was Coach Bombay. And they'll both be a Duck no matter where life takes them; whether hockey's included or not."

"Adam's got the best chance at being scouted to play for a big school, mom," Charlie said with a small snort, "if not the minors."

"And…Coach Bombay?" Casey prompted.

Charlie let out a chuckle, his tilting his head back until the back of his head hit the headrest of his seat. "It's like I said, he made us, so he's stuck with us," he replied, giving his mom a toothy smile. Her jaw dropped slightly before she let out a small laugh of disbelief. "I know, I was such a little brat."

"Charlie—"

"I guess I'm just nervous," Charlie said, interrupting his mom. He sucked in a breath of air before slowly letting it out. "But, the Ducks will be there, and Bombay is still going to be our coach. It'll be just like old times, only with a change of scenery. I mean home is only a short bus ride away." _Who are you trying to convince, Charlie? You or mom?_

"That's right," Casey agreed, letting out a small sigh, her lips twitching upwards into a smile. Charlie peered over at her, resuming tapping his fingers along the windowsill. Casey hummed to herself, drumming her thumbs against the steering wheel to the beat of the soft rock that was playing on the radio. Her eyes shifted in his direction before she turned fully to look at him. "I'll be fine, mom. Don't worry."

"I'll do my best," she replied, setting her gaze back on the road.

Charlie chuckled as he leaned forward in his seat, reaching for the volume knob, turning up the sound of the music that was playing. He lifted his feet, placing them on top of the glove compartment and started to mimic the drumming, slapping his hands on his legs.

He slowly stopped what he was doing before turning to look at his mom, turning down the music. "Mom, could you please, _please _not pinch my cheek, or cry, or call me your baby or anything like that today?" Charlie asked, a pained look crossing his face. "Please? Not in front of the Ducks?"

"Should I just get them all out of the way right now, then?" Casey asked, glancing away from the road just slightly to threaten to pinch his cheek. Charlie leaned as far away from her as he could, making a face as he did so. "I'll try, Charlie, but I can't make any promises."

"I know," Charlie replied, relaxing into a smile. "Thanks mom, for everything."

"You're welcome, Charlie," Casey replied, using her hand to brush her curly hair out of her face. "But, you don't have to thank me."

"Well…I never really have before," Charlie replied with a small shrug. "Not that often, anyway. Thought I'd start making up for it." He reached for the volume knob a second time, hesitating for a moment. "What station do you want to listen to, mom?"

Casey looked over at Charlie, her red lips parting to reveal her teeth as she gave a smile. "Whatever you want to listen to, Charlie," she replied.

Charlie grinned, removing his hand from the radio controls. He bobbed his head to the music, shifting his gaze back out the window. A tapped his thumb against his thigh along with the melody of the song before looking back over at his mom, his smile widening as he watched her bob her head as well.

* * *

"Hey, it's about time. How is it that the captain is the one that's late?"

"Ha ha, funny Goldberg," Charlie rolled his eyes as he made his way over to the sea of Ducks jerseys sitting around the fountain on the campus of Eden Hall. Greg Goldberg merely shrugged his shoulders, keeping the smile on his face. "How're you doing, guys?"

"I'm dying to get out of this, man," Guy Germaine said, tugging at his tie. He had his chin tilted back as he tried to make his tie look presentable. Connie Moreau let out a heavy sigh, getting to her feet, smoothing down the end of her skirt before slapping his hands away. "I'm not meant to wear ties."

"I've gotta agree, Ducks jerseys are the way to go," Fulton Reed said, a deep frown of his face as he lifted his hands to brush his long hair back from his face. "I mean dressing up, _come on_! I hope this school isn't as uptight as I think it is."

"Banksie will fit right in, anyway," Dean Portman said, clapping his fellow Bash Brother on the shoulder.

"Yeah, not all of us can pull this look off like Cake Eater," Russ Tyler joked, jerking his thumb over in Adam Banks' direction. "This is like a normal day for you isn't it?"

Adam rolled his eyes, a half smile coming to his face. "Actually, it's more like family dinner," he replied, his lips curling up into a smirk. "But close enough." Russ laughed, shoving his shoulder.

"Whoever thought we'd end up at Eden Hall of all places?" Dwayne Robertson asked, spinning his cowboy hat between his hands. He clicked his tongue. "Shoot, I thought it was an adventure just to go to California. I'm sure making my family proud."

"You also thought it was an adventure to get shoes that _aren't_ cowboy boots," Julie "The Cat" Gaffney replied with a short laugh. She was one of the only few Ducks standing, head angled to the side as she twisted her long blonde hair into pigtails. She turned towards Connie. "What do you think? Braids or no?"

The boys groaned, making faces at the sudden change in topics. Charlie grinned before turning towards Ken Wu who had his hands tightly clasped together, mouthing to himself. "Kenny, what are you doing?" Charlie asked with a little laugh.

Ken relaxed his hands, giving a small grin as he uncurled his fingers to reveal a quarter singing in the middle of his palm. He flipped it into the air before catching it. "Just…wishing for some good luck this year," he said, moving to balance the quarter on his thumb.

"Actually, that's not a bad idea," Louis Mendoza commented after a moment of silence, reaching for the back pocket of his tan pants.

"Where's Danni?" Charlie asked, looking around the group as he also reached for his wallet. He craned his neck, looking around for the missing Duck, Danielle Taylor.

It was a little bit of a Ducks tradition to start out the new hockey season with personal predictions for what they thought would occur during the season or to see what goals they could achieve. It had started all the way back in Pee Wee when they were known as District 5.

"I'm right here," Danielle replied as she walked over to the group, her heels clacking on the path. She had her head bent to the side as she swept her caramel brown hair into a side ponytail. "Directionally challenged as usual. Dad and I circled the campus three times looking for parking."

Louis snorted, a half smile coming to his face. "Who could forget that _magnificent_ shot on our goal at the Goodwill Games?" he asked. Soft laughs and a low "oooh" went around the ground as Danielle put a hand to her face.

"And to think I was _just _starting to forget about that, Louis," she commented, moving to take a seat on the rim of the fountain. "Thanks, Louis. Thanks heaps." Louis merely threw a wink in her direction. "So, what'd I miss?"

"The opportunity to get out of here," Fulton replied, squinting his eyes as he turned his head to look in the direction of where the ceremony was to take place. Rows after rows of chairs were starting to be filled, the first row reserved specifically for them.

"Looks like we'll be starting in any minute," Lester Averman said, lifting his hand to massage his throat. He coughed, clearing it a couple of times. "Is anyone else getting nervous? I think my throat is closing up." He started breathing heavily, fanning himself with his hand. "My, is it hot out here, today."

"Shut up, Averman," Danni commented, briefly closing her eyes. She suddenly looked nervous as well.

Charlie felt the mood of his teammates suddenly change. He tossed his wallet back and forth in his hands before unfolding it, reaching for the zipper of the coin pouch. He dumped a handful of copper and silver coins, sunlight bouncing off of them. He gripped the quarter in his hand, sliding the rest of the coins back into his wallet before clearing his throat, getting his friends' attention.

"Whoever thought we'd be at Eden Hall, huh?" he asked, trying to give a confident smile as he slid his wallet back into his pocket. "Look, guys—"

"And girls," Julie called out. Charlie paused for a moment, chuckling before nodding in her direction.

"And girls," he corrected himself, "this will be good for us; do you know how many alumnae have gone on into the NHL?"

"Yeah, and I heard Bombay went here, too," Julie said, her eyebrows shifting upwards, looking impressed. Murmurs went through the group of hockey players.

"It'll be cool," Charlie continued, tossing the quarter back and forth between his palms. "We're the Ducks and we fly together. It's not every day that a whole team gets scholarships to attend a school like this. Let's show them why they chose us; let's show them what being a Duck is all about."

"Yeah!" the Ducks shouted in unison, nudging each other, sharing smiles.

"It's just a school, but the ice is still ours the minute we step out there," Charlie continued. "We've got Bombay with us, there's no way we can lose. We've overcome a lot; losing old ducks, gaining new Ducks, and facing the toughest opponents but we made it through. Together. We can do this, too."

He then paused, glancing at the water fountain for a moment before giving a sheepish grin. He mimed a toss and the Ducks got to their feet. "But…just in case…" he trailed off before stepping up to the side of the brick structure, the toes of his brown shoes bumping the edge. He bowed his head, closing his eyes as he held the quarter in his hands.

_I predict, no matter what, we'll make it through this year together_, Charlie thought to himself. He then opened his eyes and tossed the quarter forward, watching it spin through the air before breaking through the surface with a _plop_.

_Plop, plop, plop_ coin after coin was thrown into the fountain, collecting at the bottom. The water shimmered, sending ripples across the water, distorting his reflection.

"Ducks." Charlie lifted his head to see a sharp dressed man, adjusting his tie as he made his way over towards them. He had a bright smile on his face, as he beckoned them over, practically wind milling his arm. "We're ready for you; look sharp. This is a big occasion."

"What gave you that idea?" Portman asked under his breath, his upper lip curling as he adjusted his tie. "The tie or the crisply ironed pants?" His look of annoyance lifted just slightly when he heard stifled laughs around him.

"That's right, have bright spirits," the man said, encouraging them forward. "Get in a line, just like the Ducks you are."

Charlie slapped a hand over his mouth, trying to stop the bubble of laughter that rose in his chest from popping. He glanced back over his shoulder at Adam, who was shuffling behind him. He was looking around the clearing, eyes darting from tree, to bush, to building.

"What's up, man?" he asked.

"Nothing," Adam replied after a moment of silence. "Just thinking. Never thought I'd be scouted for a school, that's all." He put a smile on his face reaching out a hand to shove Charlie's shoulder. "What're you thinking about?"

"I just can't wait to get on the ice," Charlie replied. He spread out his arms, indicating the vast campus around him. "Watch; pretty soon this school will see how the Ducks fly."

"_Ladies and gentlemen, please join me in welcoming, The Ducks.__"_


	2. Ducks in a Row

**02:**

**Ducks in a Row**

* * *

_The idea of attending Eden Hall was different, but I was enjoying thinking about how to make that stuffy place fit for the Ducks. There was an ice rink, an olympic sized pool close by, a nice looking campus, and it wasn't that far from home. As long as mom and the Ducks were around, I was sure I could make it my home, too. _

_Maybe that's what "they" mean. _

* * *

Charlie put his head down onto the table with a _thud_. His forehead was cushioned by the stacks of papers he was filling out. Medical forms, class registration, athletic forms, housing, meal plans, and on and on and on.

"Man, why invite me over if all you're going to do is fill out forms?" Jesse Hall asked, spinning a basketball on his finger before he lowered it, tossing it back and forth between his hands. As his nose wrinkled, a dimple appeared in his dark skin. He made a clicking noise with his tongue as he set the ball into his lap, resting his arms on top of it. "If I wanted to be bored, I could go watch Tammy ice skate."

Charlie let out a laugh, lifting his head to look over at his friend. "You and I both know that you wouldn't have a problem watching Tammy ice skate," he said, giving Jesse a pointed look. A thoughtful look crossed Jesse's face before he broke out into a grin, laughing.

"Alright, man, that's a good point," he replied, slapping at the ball with his hand. "But, seriously."

"I didn't think it was going to take this long," Charlie replied, his hands flying up to grip fistfuls of his hair. "Mom's going to be at work until late today and I told her I'd get some of this done." He dropped his pen down onto the table. "I don't even know what I'm doing."

"Well," Jesse said, reaching for one f the abandoned slips of paper. "At least you got your name right." Charlie made a face, his upper lip curling slightly. "Come on, dude, we can at least work on your hockey skills before you head off to that preppy school."

"It's not my skills we have to worry about, Hall," Charlie replied, lifting his foot to kick at Jesse's chair. He then motioned towards the empty bowl of popcorn. Jesse merely gave a shrug of his shoulders when Charlie then indicated the empty chip bags and the empty cup of soda.

"This is going to be weird," Jesse commented after a moment of silence. "I may not play hockey anymore, but at least I'd always see the Ducks in school." His lips curled up into a smirk. "It's hard to imagine the Ducks going to such a stuffy school. Apart from Cake Eater, anyway."

"I was just about to say…" Charlie trailed off as he let out a laugh. He lifted his hand, curled his fingers into a fist, and punched Jesse on the shoulder. "I'm just glad the place doesn't have a uniform?"

"Man," Jesse laughed, "now _that _would be something to see."

Charlie rolled his eyes, but they didn't make a complete circle. They stopped about three quarters of the way there, pointing towards the front hall where he heard two quick knocks before the door was opened. He heard a shuffling sound followed by a thump and the sound of footsteps.

"Hey, Danni," Jesse greeted.

"Hey, it's the Jesster," Danielle said with a grin, moving to where he was sitting to give him a hug before stepping around Charlie's chair, dropping down into the seat on the other side of him. She lowered her shoulder and allowed her backpack down to the floor with a loud crash. "I thought we were all meeting at the River Court." She reached for the pads strapped to her elbows, the loud sound of Velcro hitting the air.

"So did I," Jesse replied, throwing Charlie a pointed look.

"So did _I_," Charlie agreed with them. "But then…" He swung his arms out to the sides, pointing out the paper around him. Danielle's nose wrinkled before she let out a low whistle.

"That's going to take forever to do," she commented. "Why'd you put it off for so long? If you and Banksie want to room together, you better get that in as soon as possible."

"Why don't you just go see if Adam's family knows anyone that'll fill it out for you," Jesse suggested with a short laugh.

"It's not that big of a deal," Charlie said. He then paused for a moment before adding, "Besides, I've tried that already." He joined in the laughter that burst forth from Jesse and Danielle. His laughter quickly faded, however.

It wasn't just that the forms were taking a long time to fill out; it was that a part of him didn't _want _to fill them out. He still couldn't believe that Coach Bombay wasn't going to be their coach at Eden Hall. The Ducks past and present wouldn't be where they were at that moment with the opportunity to go if it wasn't for him. It was all because of him.

"_I understand what you're going through_."

"_No, you don't understand. You obviously don't even have a clue_."

Charlie regretted the words as soon as they had come out of his mouth, but he was too angry to take them back or to stop himself from walking away from his former coach. The look of hurt, worry, and understanding on Bombay's face haunted his dreams. That had happened days ago and he kept repeating the whole scenario in his head over and over again.

He felt bad for what he said and how he said it, but he couldn't bring himself to apologize for it.

Coach Bombay didn't just walk away from him. In a way, so did his dad. Not that Charlie wasn't happy his mom got married to Kyle Williams (a part of him wanted Bombay and his mom to get back together despite knowing his mom was the happiest he had seen her in ages), there just hadn't been any time for him to bond with his new step-father. Between moving to their new home and Kyle leaving on business trips pretty frequently, he wasn't surprised it hadn't happened. It wasn't like Kyle didn't put in the effort; Charlie had to give him props for that.

Whenever he was at home for an extended period of time, he made sure he was available for Charlie and wouldn't hesitate to listen to whatever problems he was facing, or if he just needed someone to act as goalie for him, whenever he wanted to practice or to work on new moves. It had even impressed him to hear through his mom that Kyle would've made sure that he and Casey could send him to Eden Hall if that was what he really wanted to do.

But, Bombay had always been there. Even at first when he _didn't _to be there, he was there. He helped them as they grew from a pee wee hockey team to the teenagers they were now. Whatever problems they were facing, he faced them at the same time.

_Except for now_, Charlie thought to himself, lifting the medical form to his face. His eyes darted back and forth as he read the questions before started to fill out what allergies he had (nuts) and if he had any preexisting medical problems (asthma). _Now we have to go through this ourselves._ He shook his head, making a face. _Get a grip, Charlie. You just said the other day that you could make it as long as you had the Ducks._

_But, Bombay is a Duck, _a tiny voice at the back of his mind said. _You even said it yourself, he made you and now he's stuck with you._

_You knew this would happen eventually. Not everybody can stay with their coaches forever_, he countered himself.

He couldn't deny that going to Eden Hall was a great opportunity for him not only as a student but as an athlete. He just didn't know how quickly it would happen. Every year it seemed like things were changing faster than he could get a handle on it. He could say he was dragged along at best, but he did try to find his footing.

He was the captain, all the Ducks were looking to see how he'd react to the news. As such, he kept himself busy until he could actively sort out what exactly he was feeling. Anger? Sadness? Betrayal? Fear? All of the above? None of the above? It was more emotions he felt at one time then he thought he could feel at one time, hormones aside.

"Charlie!"

"What?" Charlie asked, blinking rapidly. "What'd you say?"

"I just told Jesse that Bombay isn't going to be our coach this year," Danielle replied, reaching up to pull her hair up into a ponytail before allowing her hair to splay out over her shoulders. Charlie looked over at Jesse and saw a frozen look of shock on his face. Danielle pointed a pink fingernail in Jesse's direction. "Yeah, that's how we all looked when we found out, too."

Jesse let out a low whistle. "Seriously?" he asked, his eyebrows shooting up. He rested his elbow on the basketball in his lap, tapping his fingernails on the dark fuzz that stretched across his upper lip. "Wow." A thoughtful look crossed his face.

"What?" Charlie asked.

"Nothing," Jesse replied with a shrug of his shoulders. He started tossing the basketball back and forth between his hands. Charlie stopped what he was doing, folding his arms down onto the table, giving him a pointed look. Danielle's eyebrows bunched together before lifting upwards in the center. "I'm just thinking that I'm not surprised Bombay was chosen by the Goodwill Games. He's been able to take us from—"

"Pathetic plebes who sucked?" Danielle filled in for him, running her hands through her hair. She lifted the ends towards her hair to check to see if she had split ends.

"To Junior Goodwill Games champions," Jesse finished, as if she hadn't said anything. The brief twitch of his lips indicated a smile at her words. "Everyone leaves their coaches at some point." He then shifted in his seat, clearing his throat. "Or their team."

"Hey, we get why you decided to leave," Charlie said to Jesse, gently punching him on the arm. "We're excited to hear your music." Jesse sat straighter in his seat, a smile of excitement coming to his face.

In all honesty, it was a shock to him when Jesse told him that he wasn't going to continue hockey because he had gotten more into music. Thinking back on it, it should've been something he saw coming from a mile away. When they had gone camping after winning the Junior Goodwill Games, he all but stole Averman's guitar to teach himself how to play. Hindsight is 20/20.

A lot of his free time was now being eaten up with guitar lessons and vocal lessons. He was looking to start taking music theory classes that year and looked around for other musicians to jam with. He also rushed back and forth to the mall to pick up every new hip-hop album that came out.

"Thanks," Jesse replied, his voice cracking just slightly.

His upper lip curled just slightly when Danielle let out a small laugh at the sound of his voice changing, much like she always did whenever any of the boys' voices cracked. Charlie looked back and forth between the two of his friends. It was a little weird to see that they were the same, but they were changing at the same time.

Jesse's head was now shaved closer to his scalp in what he described as a fade haircut instead of his usual instead of his normal curly hair that seemed to stick out in all directions. He had grown to be just about as tall as Charlie, who was nearing six feet himself. Back fuzz lined his upper lip and started to grow in on his chin and he finally grew into his teeth after a few years of wearing braces.

Danielle had grown her used to be frizzy hair out over the years. All the frizzy hair, which she used to permanently wear in a ponytail, straightened out into a wave. Nowadays, she would generally only wear her hair up when she was to wear her hockey helmet. Her freckles had faded leaving only a few to stretch across her nose and the mole on her upper lip which she claimed to hate and hide with make-up, stood proudly. She traded her glasses and for a retainer and contacts, and started becoming more interested in wearing nail polish and nicer clothes.

Fulton was more confident with his skating and opening up to people, Portman wasn't too much of a goon, but regardless you wouldn't want to get on either of their bad sides. Kenny wasn't as shy as he used to be, and wasn't as short either. Goldberg still had his sense of humor and all his hard work allowed him to lose some weight. Connie and Guy were still annoyingly sweet with their relationship, but they had at least toned down on their PDA. They were all growing up and maturing; some more than others.

And here he felt like he was the same Charlie. He had the same haircut, wore the same clothes, answered to the same nickname since he was in pee wee. If could stay the same, why couldn't some things in his life stay the same?

"This is boring, let's go play some ball," Danielle said, clapping her hands together. She held them out towards Jesse and he tossed the ball across the table towards her. It soared higher over her head than she anticipated and bounced off the linoleum floor. Charlie watched, feeling the muscles in his face bunch up into a wince, as the orange ball flew up into the air, crashing into the vase of flowers on the island, knocking it onto the floor with a loud _crash_. "On second thought, that might not be a good idea."

"We could…go hide out in the movie theater," Jesse suggested, eyes wide, "and give Averman a hard time."

"I'm right behind you," Charlie said, pushing his chair back with the back of knees as he jumped to his feet. "Mom's given me the responsibility lecture and I don't want another one." He hurried out of the kitchen, sliding along the floor in his sock feet before taking the stairs up to his room two at a time.

He immediately crossed the room to his bed and reached underneath to grab his skate bag. He unzipped it and tuned it upside down, shaking out his skates, wrist guards, and pads for his elbows and knees. He quickly slid his feet into the boots of his skates, tightening down the straps before strapping the pads to his knees, elbows and wrists. Charlie waddled over to his closet, pulling open the doors to grab his helmet from the hook on the door.

"Let's rock and roll," he shouted, as she slid his helmet down over his head, clicking the buckle underneath his chin.

He carefully made his way out of his room and down the stairs, heading to the front door. Danielle and Jesse were already in their skates by the front door. Danielle had her backpack on her back. He reached for his set of house keys from the hooks sitting by the front door. Spinning the keys around his finger, he wrenched open the front door. Jesse and Danielle immediately jumped out the front door and onto the concrete walkway, making their way towards the street. Charlie locked the door behind him before following after them.

The uneven ground sent shockwaves up through the soles of his feet, tickling them as he swung his arms back and forth, gliding along the sidewalk as they made their way into the heart of Minneapolis, Minnesota. The familiar burn in his legs brought a smile to his face.

"Man, Charlie, you've been really zoning out all day, today," Jesse said as he turned to skate backwards, facing him. He waved his hand in the air. "Don't sweat this school stuff. Just worry about that game; that's why you're going to Eden Hall anyway."

"I hear that," Danielle agreed, punching the air with her fists. "With my grades, there'd be no way I'd get into Eden Hall, anyway."

Charlie gave her a confused look. "Weren't you being tutored by Trey Watson?" he asked her. She hiked an eyebrow and snorted. "What?"

"Right," she said with a shake of her head. "Like I'd pay attention to anything school related when Trey's around." Charlie caught Jesse's eye and watched as the African American teen rolled his eyes. "Last one to the Megaplex pays." She gave a finger wave, flashing each pink fingernail before she took off.

Charlie stared after her for a moment, an odd feeling forming in the pit of his stomach. He shifted his gaze over towards Jesse who shrugged before turned to face forward, speeding up. Seconds later, Charlie hurried after him.

"Yo," Jess said between gasps of air as Charlie fell in line beside him. "Might have to check out a game at Eden Hall; you know, make sure my Ducks aren't turning into some uptight swans or something."

"Oh, yeah, right," Charlie laughed, reaching out his hand to shove his shoulder. Jesse swung his arms, trying to keep his balance all while narrowly avoiding a mailbox. "Like I'd let that happen."

"You better not," Jesse agreed with a half smile. He shoved Charlie back. "Do good, dude. I'll be sure to come out and catch a few games."

"Thanks, Jess," Charlie replied. A challenging grin then came to his face. "But, we'll see how you feel about that after I beat your ass to the movies."

"Oh, yeah?" Jesse asked, matching Charlie's grin with one of his own. Charlie matched him skate for skate as they hurried after Danielle, speeding towards the movie theater.

If there was one thing he hated more than change, it was being left behind.

* * *

"Hair up or down? Do you think this is a good eye shadow color? Not enough or too much?"

Charlie ignored Danielle as he dug through his book bag for the umpteenth time, making sure he had everything he needed. His muscles burned in protest, still recovering from the weekend spent moving all of the Ducks (at least the ones that lived in Minnesota) into Eden Hall. Kenny, Julie, Dwayne, Portman, and Russ were flying in that morning while their belongings were being shipped as soon as possible.

His feet throbbed from walking around the vast campus in the tour that didn't seem like it'd ever end. The only thing they remotely cared about was the look of the ice rink. He hadn't heard of a lot of schools that had their own full-fledged ice skating rink. If he could, he would stay there forever, they had spent enough time looking through the locker rooms, and at all of the Warriors Championships banners hanging from the ceiling, and the empty stands soon to be filled with fans cheering for them.

"Are you sure you don't want me to drive you onto campus?" Casey asked, her gaze shifting towards the rearview mirror as she merged into the right lane. "I don't mind."

"It's ok, mom," Charlie replied, lifting his head to look over at her. "We all said we'd meet here; make an entrance, you know?"

"I just don't want you getting in trouble on your first day," Casey replied, lifting her fingers from the steering wheel as if she were putting her hands up defensively. "I mean, I'm not going to get called about you quacking at the principal at this school am I?"

"You have to admit, that _was _pretty funny," Danielle called from the back of the car. "Hair up or down?"

Charlie turned in his seat to see Danielle holding a compact mirror up to her face and some sort of eye thing up at her eye. "Is that really necessary?" he asked.

"Is it a crime to want to look presentable on my first day?" Danielle asked, snapping the compact mirror shut. Charlie rolled his eyes. She then leaned forward in her seat, draping her arms over the top of the row of seats in front of her. "Speaking of which, Mrs. Conway, thanks for the ride."

"You're welcome," Casey replied, smiling at her through the rearview mirror. "And hair up, by the way."

"That's what I thought," Danielle replied with a bright smile, instantly moving to twist up her hair.

"No, mom, you don't have to worry about me quacking at the principal," Charlie replied with a sigh as he turned around to face the front of the car. "You have nothing to worry about." He looked around as his mom slowed the car, pulling up beside the curb. "Except, you're going to want to move the car unless you want to get—" He stopped abruptly, briefly closing his eyes when he heard a loud _clang_ from the side of the car. "Hit."

"Nice shot, Fulton," Danielle called as she pushed open the car door to slide out. She used her hand to smooth the back of her jean skirt before adjusting her teal leggings. "And on the bright side, you didn't break the window this time." She slammed the door shut behind her, waving at Mrs. Conway as she made her way into the alley they parked beside.

Charlie chuckled, shaking his head back and forth before he pinched the bridge of his nose before lifting his head to give his mom a peaceful smile. "Well, this is it, mom," he said. "I'll be ok."

"You know Kyle wanted to see you off today, but he got stuck out of town," Casey replied, reaching out a hand to fix his hair. Charlie's muscles tensed as he instinctively wanted to move away, but forced himself to stop. "He'll be back in town this evening."

"It's ok, mom," Charlie replied, with a nod. "I understand." He snapped is fingers. "I'll tell you what. As soon as I'm done with the day, I'll meet you two at the diner and I'll tell you how it went."

"That sounds wonderful, sweetie," Casey replied with a wide smile.

"I'll see you this evening, then," Charlie replied as he reached for the door handle. He then paused to lean over and give her a kiss on the cheek. "And don't worry, mom. We'll be able to handle this new school, no problem." _Now just keep repeating that until you stop feeling so nervous, Charlie._

"I know you will," Casey replied as he climbed out of the car. "Have fun."

Charlie waved, slamming the door shut behind him. He watched her pull the car away from the curb, rejoining the flow of traffic. As soon as the car disappeared around the corner, he reached for the buttons on his flannel shirt, making his way into the alley, passing the empty trunk he used as a goal.

"Hey, Fulton," Charlie greeted him with a nod, pulling his flannel shirt from his shoulders, revealing his green jersey. He patted his hand over the yellow C that stuck to the green fabric before stuffing the shirt into his bag. "Thanks for _not _causing my mom to go to the auto shop again."

"No problem," Fulton muttered in reply, lining up a practicing hockey puck with the trunk. He gripped the hockey stick in his glove covered hands. Charlie watched as he pulled back the stick before swinging it forward with a _woosh_, connecting with the orange puck. Charlie watched the puck shoot through the air, bouncing off the edge of the trunk before hitting the floor. Fulton grit his teeth before turning towards Charlie, lifting his hand to adjust the bandana on his head. "Dude, Portman's not coming to play for Eden Hall."

"He's _what_?" Charlie asked, his eyes popping open. He lowered his shoulder, allowing his bag to fall to the floor. "Why not?"

"Bombay's out, so he's out, too," Danielle explained from where she was sitting on a garbage can lid, changing her shoes for a pair of blades. "Fulton got his message right as he was leaving to meet us here."

"It sucks, man," Fulton said with a shake of his head. "I mean, we're the Bash _Brothers_." He tapped the ground with his hockey stick. He shook his head back and forth. "We know how we play; we don't have to say anything about it."

"Who're they going to replace him with?" Danielle asked. "That's what I want to know."

"Good point," Charlie replied, tapping his chin. He kicked his bag over towards a stack of old tires and dropped down on top of it. "Whoever it is, we better make them welcome." He shuddered. "I can still feel Dwayne's cattle rope."

"Don't remind me," Fulton muttered, striking at another hockey puck. Charlie turned his head just in time to see it bounce off of Goldberg's helmet. "Ooh. Sorry, dude."

"Oh, that's ok," Goldberg replied as he glided into the alleyway, reaching up to unhook his helmet. He massaged his forehead with his fingers. "My helmet did its job by _stopping the puck from maiming me_."

"That's a little over dramatic, don't you think?" Fulton asked, leaning his weight on the hockey stick.

"I'm glad I have your sympathy," Goldberg muttered with a roll of his eyes.

Charlie snickered when he saw the smile that crossed Fulton's face. He pressed his foot down onto the heel of his shoe, pulling his foot out. "Good, we're all here," he said, doing a quick headcount. Fulton dropped his hockey stick to the ground, moving to remove his gloves, making his way over to his bag. "Banks said he'd be with everyone else on the corner of Lakeland and Mill Road."

Once his skates were on his feet, he lifted his shoes and slid them into his backpack. Shouldering his bag, he got to his feet, letting out a sigh. "Well, school awaits," he said. "You guys ready?"

* * *

**A/N: **So, if you haven't figured it out by now, this story follows the movie, but at the same time it has its own plot line to it. Essentially, I thought of this ide after re-watching the series. I was thinking, you don't see a lot about how the other Ducks were taking the changes at Eden Hall so you'll see more of that as well as just how they go through their freshmen year at school.

Hope you liked it.


	3. Take a Gander at This

**03:**

**Take a Gander at This**

* * *

_I first met Adam Banks the superstar on the ice when he kicked our butt badly in a pee wee hockey game. I met him the second time off the ice, when he was making fun of my friends and I. But, I met the real Adam Banks at Jesse's team party after a big win. There's something about starting a cake fight that really brings two people together. He had good aim and I had a good strategy. Our mom's weren't too happy about how we acted, but he was really a Duck in that moment. _

_To have him pull me aside after our very first win, after he was accepted on the team, and thanked me was all worth it._

_But, he didn't need to thank me: I was happy to do it. He was my best friend after all._

* * *

Rick Riley made a noise in the back of his throat as he watched what little Ducks decided to show up at the ice rink, skate around…_quacking. _Not that their hoots and hollers could really sound like anything else. And it annoyed him.

They had only been at Eden Hall officially for a day, and he could barely stand them. Not just on sight but by principal. First they interrupted the opening convocation by crashing through the back of the auditorium as if they were some rebels, and then they went around _quacking _acting as if being called a Warrior was such a terrible thing. He loved being a Warrior and he loved the school. There was no way he was going to just let them slide on through acting like it was all a joke when they did absolutely nothing to get their spot there. Sure, a part of him could admit that he was just _slightly_ impressed at how they played.

Just _slightly_.

But, it wasn't fair.

At all.

"They shouldn't even be here," Rick said between clenched teeth. He clenched his teeth harder and until the pressure was too much and he let out a noise of frustration, sliding his hands up over his hair.

"Come on, dude, they're not that bad." Rick briefly closed his eyes before turning his head to look over at his friend, and fellow Varsity Warrior, Scott 'Scooter' Vanderbilt. Scooter leaned back against the hard bleachers, stretching his long legs out in front of him at the same time. He crossed one leg over the, stretching his arms up above his head.

His eyes shifted towards Rick. "What? I'm just saying," he said, putting his hands up defensively. "They had to have been good enough to be Junior Goodwill Games champions, right?"

"They aren't even supposed to be here," Rick replied and Scooter let out a sigh through his nose.

He wasn't going to let that go. It just wasn't fair. He always worked hard, warming up half an hour before official practice started, and cooled down after it ended. All they did was goof off and have fun and they got into Eden Hall on a pure technicality. Everyone wanted to know what the champions were going to do next.

"They don't deserve to be on the team, they're not Warriors, blah, blah, blah," Scooter recited Rick's words back to him. "I get you're mad and I agree, it sucks how the JV team was treated. I mean, they've been working their asses off to even have a shot at becoming a Warrior."

"Exactly," Rick agreed, nodding his head. Scooter made a humming sound, jutting out his chin for a brief moment, but didn't say anything else.

There was a loud _clank_ as Guy Germaine's shot bounced off of the metal piping of the goal; bouncing off Julie Gaffney's glove. Danielle Taylor quickly chased down the puck, skating around the back of the net to try a quick backhanded shot into the goal.

"_You can't just go easy on me one day?_"

Rick could hear Julie's chuckle echo around the arena as she adjusted her mask."_Fat chance_. "She quickly shot out her arm, a hockey puck shot by Guy Germaine bouncing off the pad. "_Keep trying, guys._"

"They're not Warriors," Rick cried, throwing his hands into the air. "Them and their Duck tricks. Anytime I saw them talking in the halls it was 'The Ducks' this and 'The Ducks' that, and 'As long as the Ducks are together'…"

He trailed off, his eyes widening with annoyance as he let out a sigh through his nose. His eyes shifted back and forth as he watched Charlie Conway skate across the ice, thrusting his hockey stick in the air after snagging a goal. Charlie stopped to slap Adam's gloved palm with a muffled high five. The taller Duck clapped Charlie on the back, shaking his shoulder.

"If it wasn't for the Ducks he'd be no one. You know they used to call him Spazway. Not surprised, really. He wouldn't be as good of a player he thinks he is if it wasn't for those little Duckies."

Scooter made a noise in the back of his throat.

"He wouldn't be as good of a player he thinks he is if it wasn't for those little Duckies," Rick repeated.

"You said that already," Scooter pointed out to him.

"Yeah, I know," Rick replied, his lips slowly curling back into a smile as Charlie slapped Adam a high five. "I just got an idea." He turned towards Scooter, giving his friend a pointed look. "And _you're _going to help me."

"So, what else is new?" Scooter asked with a small laugh.

He slapped his palm into Rick's hand. Their rough palms brushed against each other's as he pulled his hand back. They caught their fingers, hooking just slightly before they pulled their hands apart, curling their fingers, jerking their thumbs over their shoulders.

"What do you have in mind?" Scooter asked, his eyebrows twitching upwards just slightly.

"Well, Charlie seems like the type who really relies on his friends," Rick replied, tapping his fingers with his chin. "Take away his friends, then what does he have left? How will he be on the ice? I mean, it's probably hard on him that their precious Duck coach isn't around."

"Bombay?" Scooter asked. "I heard he's got a good job working for the Goodwill Games." He paused for a moment. "No wonder he's pawning the Ducks off on Eden Hall."

"See? They haven't done anything to prove that they deserve to be here," Rick said, reaching out a hand to shove his friend's shoulder. "My dad will change his mind sooner or later, but it won't hurt to kind of…_push_ him in the right direction."

"So, what do you have in mind?" Scooter asked.

Rick let out a sigh, moving to rest his arms on his elbows. He was silent for a long moment as he continued to watch the Ducks skate around the rink, taking shots against "The Cat" as they goofed off. His lips curled up just slightly in the corners.

"Well, for one thing," he spoke after a moment of silence. "Adam Banks is clearly the best player out here. Good enough to be on Varsity, I suspect." He briefly glanced over at Scooter. "I'll talk to Coach Wilson about it and see what he thinks."

"When was the last time you've heard a freshman being on the Varsity team?" Scooter asked. Rick opened his mouth and he quickly continued. "Besides you, I mean."

Rick gave a shrug. "It's only fair that a player like that really plays to his full potential, right?"

"Riiight," Scooter slowly replied. "But, what does your plan have to do with me?"

"And you have that Duck girl—Danni—in your English class, right?" Rick asked, hiking an eyebrow. "I still can't believe you failed English. I mean, how is that even possible?"

Scooter snorted. "Have you _met _Cole?" he asked, rolling his eyes.

Rick chuckled at the mention of their somewhat dimwitted friend, but impeccable enforcer, David Cole. He could be slow to understand things, and he often got his sayings mixed up, but he was as loyal as they came. It was just a little hard and exhausting to follow his thought process from time to time.

"Fair point," Rick said.

"And, yes, she is in my class." Scooter nodded his head. "Or rather…I'm in her class. I don't know for sure, class didn't meet today, but it does tomorrow."

"Good. She's in your class, but good," Rick replied, spinning on the bleacher until he faced his friend's side, straddling the bench. His right leg stayed planted on the concrete floor beneath him, his left leg bent at the knee, closer to his chest.

"How do you—"

"Did you forget who my dad is?" Rick asked with a roll of his eyes. Scooter shook his head. "Invite her to the Varsity/JV party this Friday; but make it clear the whole Duck team can go."

"You want me to invite her as my date?" Scooter asked, his eyebrows lowering into a confused look.

"No, I want you to invite her and the Ducks to the Varsity/JV Welcoming party," Rick replied with a shake of his head. "Just leave the rest to me." He then got to his feet, pulling his coat tighter around his chest, shoving his hands into his coat pockets. "Come on, I'm getting bored watching them. They can practice all they want—"

"If that's what they want to call it," Scooter commented and Rick chuckled.

"That doesn't mean we're not going to beat them at the Varsity/JV Showdown like we always do," Rick replied, leading the way out of the seating area. "Come on; let's make tracks. We've got a lot to plan before school starts tomorrow."

* * *

"Get up, Charlie."

Charlie squeezed his eyes shut, burying his head into his pillow. He felt something thump into his side and removed his blankets to squint over at Adam before looking at the shoe on the floor. "Did you just throw a shoe at me?"

"It was either that or the radio," Adam replied with a small laugh as he ran a brush through his hair. He was already dressed with a nice button down shirt, slacks, and a sweater vest. "Get up or Goldberg will eat everything at breakfast. Besides, you're going to want to see what Guy found out."

"What?" Charlie asked through a yawn as he pushed his blankets off of his body. He swung his legs to the floor and stretched his arms over his head, sighing as his sore muscles stretched.

Between skating to school and the impromptu hockey practice during their two hour free period the other day, he was surprised he could move. Much like they normally did—or didn't do—whenever the hockey season was over, they never took the time to condition to keep their muscle strength up.

_You'd think we'd learn by now_, Charlie thought to himself, dropping his arms down onto his legs, running his hands over his face.

"You'll see at breakfast, he's showing all the Ducks, then," Adam replied, setting his brush down.

"How are you always so…awake in the mornings?" Charlie asked, peering up at his friend through squinted eyes.

"Years of early morning hockey practice," Adam replied, reaching for his shoes. "Even before joining pee wees, my dad always got me up early to make sure I was ahead of the game." Charlie made a noise in the back of his throat. "Guess I've just gotten too used to it. I don't think I could sleep in even if I wanted to."

Charlie muttered a "sucks", trying to warm up his vocal chords as he made his way over to the closet. He pulled the doors open before reaching for the drawers to his dresser with one hand, using the other to click on the closet light. He groaned when the bright light suddenly flooded his field of vision.

He knew that Adam was as disciplined as they came when it regarded hockey. If it wasn't for the Ducks, he wasn't sure if Adam would ever learn how to have fun while playing the game. That's not to say he didn't think it helped Adam's game. Everyone could see he was the best player out there. They were lucky to have him and in turn, he was sure Adam thought he was lucky to have them.

"What classes do you have today?" Charlie asked, pushing some of his clothes around until his fingers brushed across the familiar material of his old, green Ducks jersey. He grasped it in his hands and pulled it out of the drawer, sending other shirts sliding out. Ignoring the small mess he made, he pushed the drawer shut with his hip before sliding his jersey on over his head. "I have Civil War, French, Biology, and seminar."

"Same only with Spanish and music history," Adam replied. Charlie wrinkled his nose as he pulled a pair of jeans off of a hangar. "Oh, and fitness."

"Why fitness?" he asked, stepping into the pants before jumping up and down, pulling them up to his hips. He watched as Adam shrugged his shoulders.

"Just a class," Adam replied. "Besides, it's not like we had a lot to choose from to take this semester. Plus, everyone needs to take a PE course."

"Not if you're an athlete," Charlie said with a laugh.

"Trust me, if I didn't sign up for fitness, I'd never set foot anywhere near those weights," Adam replied. "Plus, it's dad's orders." Charlie didn't know what to say to that so he stayed quiet. Adam got to his feet, reaching for his backpack.

"Save me a seat at breakfast?" Charlie asked.

"Sure thing," Adam replied, lifting his hand in a small wave. "If you can find your way there."

"Ha, freakin', ha," Charlie called after him. "No one said you had to follow me into that auditorium." He raised his voice as Adam continued towards the door. "And we didn't get in trouble, so there's that."

"Sure thing, Captain Duck," Adam called back before the sound of the door opening and closing hit Charlie's ears.

Charlie's small laugh changed into a sigh as he quickly finished changing, sliding his feet into his shoes before hurrying around the room, looking for his schedule and his books. He found his ID and dorm keys under his pillow and shoved them into his pocket before making his way out the door, making sure to lock it behind him.

Shouldering his bag, he made his way down the hall and towards the large staircase, leading him down into the lower level of the dorm building, walking straight into a girl as she turned away from the table she was sitting in front of. A low "oof" escaped past Charlie's lips as her clipboard jammed into his stomach.

Luckily, he had received harder hits in hockey so it didn't hurt, just startle him. The girl, however seemed to bounce off his chest and onto the floor, spilling everything in her arms. _Shoot_. Charlie cringed before dropping to the floor, reaching for every paper lying nearest him, dodging people's legs and feet as they hurried past.

"I'm sorry," Charlie quickly apologized, shoving the paper together into a stack, holding it to his chest as he adjusted his backpack hanging off his shoulder. "I wasn't looking where I was going."

"No, I'm sorry," the girl replied, brushing her hair back behind her ears, giving him a quick smile. "I've been trying to catch anyone that passes. Actually, I've been kind of throwing myself at them; I just didn't mean it literally."

Charlie froze, blinking as his lips curled back into a smile as well. He couldn't help it, she was so beautiful. In that quick glance he was able to pick out a set of stunning blue eyes, a button nose, amazing brown hair and an even more amazing smile.

Charlie felt his jaw drop and the only thing he could get out was a low, "Uhhhh" as he straightened, handing her the papers.

"Thanks," the girl said with a small laugh. Of discomfort, or pity, or what he couldn't figure out, but he liked the sound of it. "So, now that I have your attention, it would mean a lot of you would think about signing this petition we have going on." She indicated the table behind her and Charlie craned his neck, peering around her.

Two tables were lined up together against the wall, balloons floating in clumps of four at either end. The tables were covered with white table cloths and had stacks of paper on them. A banner above it read: _Petition to Change the Warrior Name_. Charlie quickly glanced down at the papers in the girls' hands and saw a few signatures.

"You really have something against the Warrior name don't you?" he asked, taken aback for a brief moment.

"It's a demeaning name, and we don't think we should represent a fine institution such as Eden Hall with a name like the Warriors," the girl replied. "We're getting as much signatures as we can and then we're going to present our case t the board."

Charlie felt his right eyebrow slowly rising before he forced it back to neutral. "To change one, you'd have to change them all, don't you think?" Charlie asked. "It's just a team name, it's not bad. Warriors is a great name."

The girl let out a small laugh. Or a scoff. Nevertheless, Charlie's eyes narrowed slightly. "Some of those 'just team names' are racial slurs and should not be celebrated. Like the Redskins for example and the Braves." She then got a good look at Charlie's jersey and sniffed. "Actually, forget I even said anything. I wouldn't expect a jock to understand." She hiked an eyebrow. "The Ducks, huh?"

"Yeahhhh," Charlie slowly replied. He felt like he was just slapped in the face. "_That _name's not a problem is it?" He reached for his jersey and grabbed a handful, pulling it away from his chest to peer down the logo. The girl gave a short laugh before shaking her head, as if she was punishing herself for laughing in the first place. Charlie relaxed into a smile. "I hoped not. If it was, then I wouldn't want to tell you that I'm captain of the new JV team."

A look quickly passed over her features before her eyebrows lifted and she gently hit his elbow with the clipboard. "Good for you," she replied.

Charlie could only stand and watch as the girl turned to flag down another student. "What just happened?" he asked, raking his fingers through his hair.

"In Girl World," Connie commented, stepping up behind Charlie, gently punching his arm, "that means you got shut down." Charlie turned around to face her, instantly annoyed with the smile on her face. "A crash and burn I'd say."

"Thanks, Connie," Charlie replied, giving her a tight lipped smile. "I really appreciate it."

"No problem," Connie said with a little laugh, crossing her arms over her chest. "So, what was that all about?"

"Ahhh, some girl who doesn't like the Warrior name or whatever," Charlie replied, waving his hand in the air. "What's up, Con?"

"Forgot a book in my room," Connie replied. "And Luis needs some ice for his shoulder." Charlie gave her a confused look and she let out a sigh. "You know how Luis became such a 'ladies man' ever since we won the Junior Goodwill Games?"

Charlie let out a bark of laughter before nodding his head. He had seen a change in how Luis acted in general. He was more open and confident, especially with all the girls that threw themselves at him.

Connie let out a small laugh as well. "Well, apparently he's interested in a cheerleader who also happens to be a girlfriend to a—"

"Warrior," Charlie finished with her and Connie nodded her head. "What happened? Is he ok?"

"He got checked into a row of lockers, but he's ok," Connie replied she then put her hands on her hips. "Which I don't really understand; why have lockers if you also have dorm rooms?" She put a hand up into the air. "Anyway, you know Luis, it's hard to get him to stop on the ice, and even harder off the ice."

"Yeah, I know what you mean," Charlie replied before jerking his thumb over his shoulder. "I'll meet you in the cafeteria. I want to get there before Goldie eats everything."

"He just got in line, you're going to want to hurry, Charlie," Connie said with a laugh before hurrying up the stairs Charlie had just vacated.

"I'm going, I'm going," Charlie called after her. His eyes flickered over towards Petition Girl one last time before he set off on a jog, hurrying towards the dining hall.

After he quickly flashed his ID card, he moved through the line, piling his tray with food, and made his way over to the long set of tables the Ducks quickly dubbed their own. Being the new JV team had some perks; it seemed like with other athletic teams, wherever they claimed as their spot, no one else dared to sit there. It made looking for seats in the dining hall that much easier.

Charlie lifted his hand in greeting, biting into the apple in his other hand as he dropped his tray down onto the table, dropping into the empty seat beside Adam. "Hey, guys," he greeted around his chewing. "Kenny, is that all you're eating?" He motioned towards Ken who had a small plate of eggs and a half empty cup orange juice sitting in front of him.

"I…" Ken trailed off, his eyes shifting to the side. "I'm fine." He lifted his fork and took a bite of his eggs as if to prove his point.

"Here, Kenny," Julie said, lifting her plate of two bagels—and a dollop of cream cheese-off of her tray, sliding it down the table. It slowly came to a stop right in front of Ken. He leaned forward to give Julie a small smile of thanks before reaching for one of the bagels.

"An hour and a half of Biology first thing in the morning," Goldberg groaned, running his hands over his face. "Whatever happened to forty-five minutes of class?"

"It's because it's a lab class, Goldie," Danielle explained. Seeing the look of confusion on Dwayne's face she sighed. "The science and art classes meet for an hour and a half because forty-five minutes isn't long enough of a time to learn anything."

"You think we'll at least have a snack break or something?" Goldberg asked. Charlie looked down the table at Goldberg's mountain of food and choked back a laugh by shoving a piece of bacon into his mouth.

"Sure, Goldberg," Averman replied with a nod of his head. "We'll get a snack break. If we don't explode from all of the food we have right here." He reached for the coffee cake on his plate and smelled it, a look of delight crossing his face. "I swear they have French pastry chefs here or something."

"Wouldn't put it past it with this place," Charlie commented, "But, it _is _good." He got a mumble of satisfaction in reply.

"Here's your ice, Luis," Connie said as she rejoined the table, holding a lumpy towel out towards her friend. Luis took it with a smile of thanks and put it to his shoulder.

"Something tells me I'm going to need a lot more ice," Luis said, his face twisting in pain, "if that one shove was anything to go by."

"Come on, Luis, you know we always hit back," Charlie replied.

"Harder," Fulton commented with a smirk from his end of the table, earning a few cheers.

"So, what was it you wanted to show us, Guy?" Adam asked.

"I was using the computers to e-mail my mom—" Guy trailed off when calls of "Momma's Boy" hit the air. He chuckled, waving his hand in the air. "Yeah, yeah, yeah."

"What else, Guy?" Adam asked.

"You know Ted Orion, our new coach," Guy said, reaching under the table before he lifted his backpack onto his lap. He got nods in reply. "Well, did you know he used to play for the Minnesota North Stars?"

"You mean the Dallas Stars," Dwayne corrected him.

"Same difference," Guy replied, reaching into his backpack for a moment before pulling out a small stack of papers, slapping it down onto the table.

"So, I was right. Does it say anything about punching his coach?" Luis asked, leaning forward to look at the paper. "That's what I've heard."

"He punched a fan," Dwayne replied.

"No, nothing like that," Guy replied with a shake of his head. "But, man, was he a great player. I couldn't find out anything about him leaving the team, though."

"Maybe he couldn't hack it," Russ commented with a shrug. "Tried to keep going but ad his butt handed to him." He let out a low whistle. "And they want him to coach us?"

"Hey, we don't know anything until our first practice next week," Connie pointed out to him.

"We know one thing; he's not Bombay," Charlie replied.

* * *

Danielle stepped through the doorway of her Advanced English class and paused, chewing on her chapped bottom lip before lifting a hand to push her glasses up her nose, quickly wiping away any tears of pain that gathered in her eyes. In her rush to get to class that morning, her contacts did not sit well in her eyes and the repeated motion of poking her fingers in her eyes didn't help much either.

Row after row of seats were being filled by other students. Some were quiet, finding a place for their own, others talking animatedly with each other. It was bad enough, being a new student at Eden Hall, but to be a freshman in a sophomore class made the bull's eye on her that much bigger. She was a good writer, but she couldn't even begin to explain how…_different _she felt without the other Ducks around.

Gripping her backpack strap tightly in one hand, she made her way into the room, darting her eyes back and forth around the room for a good place to sit. She couldn't sit too far to the front or else she'd most likely be picked on to answer questions a lot. Too far too the back and the teacher might not think she cared about the class. Sit too far to the left or right and she was guaranteed to have people sit next to her and while she was the open sort, there were times where she just needed her own space.

That was why a part of her was happy to have a class that didn't have the Ducks in it. A whole chunk of her life revolved around hockey, it was nice to have something else to herself.

Finally choosing a place to sit—a seat at the middle-front of the room—she dropped her backpack to the floor. Digging through it, she grasped her notebook, and a pen, setting them down onto the table. She flipped open to the very first page and wrote her name in the top right hand corner before writing the name of the class at the top of the page.

"Pssst." Danielle felt something prod her back, in between her shoulders. "Pssst." Turning in her seat, she watched as a boy in a red and white Warriors jacket, hair swooped off of his face, leaned back in his seat, smiling at her. "You Danielle? You're part of the JV hockey team, right? The ones who got the scholarships? The ones who crashed opening convocation?"

"Not my shining moment, I'll admit," Danielle replied, slowly nodding her head. "Ask anyone on my team; I'm directionally challenged sometimes." Her eyebrows slid together just slightly. "So you know my name. Yours would be—"

"Scott," the boy replied. "But, everybody calls me Scooter."

"Oh," Danielle replied before turning back around in her seat.

She recognized the name as soon as it came out of her mouth. How could anyone not know who he was around the school? The Varsity hockey team had won at least ten championships in a row; they were the team to watch. They were also the team that gave Kenny, Dwayne, Luis, Russ, and Julie a hard time their first day. The Varsity team had made it pretty clear that they didn't want the Ducks there.

"Pssst." She felt the jab again. "I didn't know my name was that bad."

Danielle let out a huff of air, tapping her fingernails on the table top before spinning around in her seat for a second time. "You're a Warrior."

"So are you," Scooter replied. "Now."

"No, I'm a Duck," Danielle replied. "And you're a Varsity player. You've all made it clear you don't want us here, so why are you talking to me?"

"Because I want to ask you to this Varsity/JV Welcoming party thing," Scooter replied and Danielle hiked an eyebrow. "Not only you, but all of the JV Ducks." He tapped his pencil, which Danielle quickly realized was what he was prodding her with. "It's a tradition here; to make the new athletes feel like a part of the family. Trust me, it really helped me out two years ago when I was new."

"You're a junior?" Danielle asked, her eyebrows shooting up, eyes narrowing slightly. "In a freshman/sophomore class?"

Scooter shrugged. "Failed the course last year," he replied.

"You failed an English course?" she asked.

"An _advanced_ English course, actually," Scooter corrected her.

"My mistake," Danielle replied in a monotone.

"Writing wasn't my main focus that's all," Scooter explained with a shrug of his shoulders. "I was good enough to get into this class, it was just analyzing stuff that was the problem." He tapped his pencil against his bottom lip. "I get the feeling that you're good at that though, just like I have the feeling that you're analyzing my motives right now." Danielle's eyebrow twitched and he grinned. "I'm right, aren't I?"

Danielle rolled her eyes, turning back around to face the front of the room as the teacher strolled in. She immediately started into her spiel introducing herself, handing out syllabuses, and going through what the course would cover and what materials they'd need before moving through roll call and starting the class.

They didn't cover much, so Danielle spent part of the class writing down information from the syllabus she thought was important (test dates, project dates, paper dates, turn in dates, and office hours) and doodled in the margins all the while ignoring Scooter whenever she had to pass papers up her row to the back of the room.

"Alright, class, the next time we meet we're going to jump right into work, it'll be a bit at a fast pace, so come to me if you're having any problems," the teacher said as the bell chimed, signaling the end of class. "We'll be starting out with a few writing exercises covering fiction and non-fiction, so get some ideas in your head and be prepared to peer edit."

Danielle briefly closed her eyes as soon as the words reached her ears. If there was anything she hated more than group work it was peer editing. And she was sure if the teacher wasn't going to assign her to a partner, someone already had her in mind.

"So, I'll see you Ducks at the party on Friday, right?" Scooter asked as Danielle swung her backpack over her shoulder. She paused as she removed her hair from between her back and her backpack.

"Uhh—"

"I'll look for you," Scooter said as he gathered his books, sliding them into his backpack. Before she could say anything else, he shouldered his bag, giving her a smile, and made his way out of the room.

* * *

**A/N: **You all might have noticed, but I went back and added the italics at the beginning of each chapter. It's kind of a summary as to what'll happen in each chapter, but also serves a different purpose, too.


	4. Good for the Goose, Good for the Gander

**04:**

**What's Good for the Goose is Good for the Gander**

* * *

_I don't think I remember a time before I played hockey. Basketballs, footballs, and soccer balls were left in the lawn as soon as I put on my first set of skates. But, I wasn't that good when I first started out; I crashed and burned like all the rest and still have a couple scars to prove it. _

_You don't get far without a lot of hard work and I sure as heck put as much work as possible into my sport. Whether I wanted to or not. For a long while, 'Play' wasn't in my vocabulary. I guess, in a way, it still isn't._

* * *

Adam let out a long sigh, closing his eyes as he lifted an arm to brush his stringy, sweat saturated hair out of his face. He shook out one leg and then the other before clasping his hands behind his head, threading his fingers together.

He slowly sucked in a deep breath of the cool morning air, his chest expanding as he did so before allowing it to rush out in one single breath, dropping his arms down to his sides, where they hit his legs with a slap. He swung his arms back and forth as he made his way across the grounds of Eden Hall.

Moments later, he heard loud panting and turned his head to see Guy practically stumbling as he tried to catch up with him. "Geeze," Guy said between gasps of air. "It's like…you freakin' _teleported_." Adam chuckled as he slowed his pace to a stop to allow his friend time to catch his breath. "One minute…you were there and…then you weren't."

"Sorry," Adam apologized, moving to slap his friend on the back. "I didn't mean to take off; I just had a lot on my mind."

Guy straightened, using his arm to wipe the sweat off his forehead. A crinkle appeared between his eyebrows as a worried look crossed his face. "Anything you want to talk about?" Guy asked. He grasped the collar to his shirt and used it to wipe the dripping sweat from his neck.

"Uhhh," Adam stalled for a moment, scratching the back of his head. He wasn't one to really talk about his feelings or what was bothering him. That had unfortunately left him in some dire situations on and off the ice.

With his frustrations of being shut out of the Ducks, he spent a good chunk of his first game with the team skating around begging for someone to pass him the puck. Only then did he get a hard check slamming him into the goal, nearly breaking his collar bone.

Then he had gotten injured when an Iceland player practically shattered his wrist with their hockey stick. Instead of getting it looked at, he kept quiet, almost injuring himself permanently. He was happy to have gotten caught but he also beat himself up about it. He was happy to still be able to be on the ice despite his arm being in a sling, but he was itching to get back into the game.

So was his dad. "_Play through the pain, Adam,_" he'd say, clapping his hands for emphasis as he coached his son through skating laps around the ice. His pads pulled down on his injured shoulder. "_Keep going until it doesn't hurt anymore_." Those words repeated in his mind as he tried to push his way through slap shots, ignoring the throbbing pain in his wrist, the urge to beat Iceland burning his chest. "_That's my boy; good work. I'm proud of you son._"

Adam didn't hear those words that often outside of hockey. In fact, he wasn't sure his dad would even pay him any attention if he didn't have a hockey stick in his hand. Despite all that, the only reason he continued to play was because it had led him to the greatest friends he had ever had in his life. To him, that was worth it.

"Thanks, but—"

"That's ok," Guy replied, putting his hands up into the air, turning his head slightly to the side. He clapped Adam on the shoulder before falling into step beside him as they headed towards the gym. "If you do need to talk…"

"Thanks," Adam replied, lifting the collar of his shirt sleeve to wipe the sweat from the side of his nose. "You, too." Guy gave him a curious look. "You seemed annoyed this morning."

"That's because I had to get up early," Guy joked. Adam chuckled as Guy's smile faded; half his face scrunching up into a look of uncertainty. "Connie and I just had a little fight."

"Another one?" Adam asked, trying to fight the urge to lift his eyebrows. "What about? If you don't mind my asking."

A part of him was surprised that they were fighting but at the same time, they'd been arguing a fair few times. It was a little funny to see that the two of them were perfect for each other but could also be at each other's throats at times. No matter what, that all seemed to disappear the minute they set foot on the ice.

Guy let out a small groan. "Seems we fight over everything nowadays," he commented. "We had gotten into a fight about…unpacking of all things."

"Mmm, better than your Thanksgiving fight last year," Adam commented.

He wasn't sure how Connie and Guy were going to mend their broken ways after that one; after all, it was their first big fight stemming from which family they were going to spend the holiday with. The fact that they'd all be together in one house was overlooked as they were both stressed that the holiday was important to both families.

Adam remembered that argument well. It looked like for the first time in their lives they'd stop talking to each other, let alone kissing. Truth be told the Ducks were happier about the latter consequence. Their arguments were getting a bit more intense, but they always made up in the end and were stronger than they were before.

"I don't even want to think about that," Guy said with a sigh, waving his hand in the air.

"How can the two of you fight so much and still be ok?" Adam asked.

Guy shrugged his shoulders before lifting his hand to scratch the back of his head before brushing his long hair out of his face. "At the end of the day we love being around each other and being with each other, so we make sure to work through things. Sometimes it takes a while, but we work it out. "

His lips twitched slightly as he let out a sigh through his nose. "We've been together for a while and we're always with each other—at school, hockey—we're bound to get on each other's nerves sooner or later. It's just important to remember that we're friends and we don't want to lose that."

"That's good," Adam replied, slowly nodding his head. "That's a good way to think about it."

"Yeah," Guy agreed, a half smile coming to his face as they neared the athletics building. He pulled open the door and let out a sigh as cool air rolled over him. "It's either that or I go crazy."

Adam let out a short laugh, stepping into the building. He shivered slightly at the cold air that hit him before following the smell of chlorine to the men's locker room. He and Guy quickly showered and changed back into their street clothes before heading back to the dorms.

"Hey," Guy said, breaking the silence between them. "I think the Warriors have hockey practice right now. You want to…I don't know…see how good we are? Maybe get an idea of what we'll be going up against later?"

Adam closed an eye as he thought about it. All he was looking forward to was a stack of homework and to prepare for a practice quiz or practice exam or whatever it was that the teacher decided to give them. "Sure," he agreed, changing his direction at the nearest path that split off from the main brick walkway they were currently ambling. "Let's just make it quick; they might think we're spying or something."

"If they're as good as people say they are, we might need to," Guy muttered and Adam hiked an eyebrow before swinging his gym bag to hit Guy in the side. "I'm just saying."

"We got through the Junior Goodwill Games against Iceland," Adam reminded him, moving out of the way as Guy moved to hit him back. "If we can beat them we can beat the Varsity team. _I'm_ just saying." The corners of Guy's lips curled up into a smile, but he didn't say anything. "So, what'd you think of everything with Bombay?"

Guy clicked his tongue. "I don't know," he replied with a shake of his head. "I didn't expect him to be our coach for the rest of our lives, but…it just kind of came out of nowhere, you know?"

"Yeah," Adam replied, slowly nodding his head. "I know." _A lot of things seem to come out of nowhere. _He thought back to when he was first told about having to be put on the Ducks team, how they were getting new teammates, how they were participating in the Junior Goodwill games, and how he was being sent off to Eden Hall that year.

_"Adam we need to talk." Adam was aware of his father's presence in the doorway of his room, but proceeded to ignore him as he made his way over to his closet._

_"Can it wait?" Adam asked, pulling his hockey gear out of his closet, shoving it into the bag that hung around his neck, off his shoulder. The strap was digging into his skin from the weight of his skates already in the bag. His pads added extra weight onto his shoulder and as he used his thumb to adjust the strap, he turned to face his dad. "I'm going to be late."_

_"I just wanted to tell you that you got accepted into Eden Hall for this fall," Mr. Banks replied, holding up the envelope that Adam just noticed was in his hand. His lips were pulled back into a small smile. "Congratulations."_

_Adam felt his eyebrows twitched a he stepped towards his dad, taking the letter from his hand."Your mother and I talked about sending you there this fall, remember?"_

_Adam gave a brief nod of his head. He thought he had talked them out of it. He didn't want to go to a fancy school when he could stay around his friends. He didn't go to the same school as them, but at least for one aspect of his life he wasn't just known as the rich kid or Cake Eater. _

_"I don't remember applying," he muttered._

_"You didn't," Mr. Banks replied. "They were told about your accomplishments at the Junior Goodwill Games and have offered you a full hockey scholarship." Mr. Banks continued to explain as Adam unfolded the letter, quickly reading through it. "This is big news; Eden Hall is known for their hockey team and they're interested in you for their varsity team. Did you know that their varsity team has won ten championships in a row?"_

The conversation didn't get much better than that. There was no point in him arguing about it; his dad always got his way. The minute Adam heard the word "full scholarship" he was tempted to start packing then and there.

"But, I'm happy for him," Guy continued. "It's a great opportunity and I'm sure he'll do well. Besides, I doubt he would've suggested we go to Eden Hall if he didn't think we could handle it." He lifted his hand and punched Adam's shoulder. "Especially you. If anyone was made for this school, it's you." Guy seemed to have suddenly developed a twitch as he cringed. "I mean your hockey playing not…you know."

"It's ok," Adam replied with a sigh. "I probably would've come to Eden Hall this year anyway." Guy made a noise in the back of his throat in response.

They reached the giant building housing the ice rink and gymnastics center—with the first athletic building where basketball courts and swimming pool were—and hurried into the ice rink, finding a spot to sit near the top of the bleachers. Adam folded his arms over his chest watching as the players skated back and forth across the ice, reacting to each short blast of the whistle from Varsity's coach.

"They're really good," Guy commented after a moment of silence, rubbing his hands together, trying to keep them warm. "Sharp passing, good speed…"

"We're just as good otherwise we wouldn't be here," Adam reassured him. _But, he has a point. There's a reason why they're on Varsity. _Adam pressed his lips together as they watched the hockey players work on their passing, agility, starts, and stops.

"Came here to check out the team, eh?" a voice directly behind them said. Adam whirled around in surprise as Guy jumped to his feet. The man behind them chuckled before running his hand over his patchy beard. "Didn't mean to startle you. I'm Varsity's assistant coach Fletcher and you're…Adam Banks and Guy Germaine, right? From the new JV team?"

"You know who we are?" Guy asked, slowly lowering himself back onto the bench he had vacated.

"Junior Goodwill Games champs, how could anyone around here not know who you are?" Coach Fletcher asked with a short laugh. "I've seen tapes of your games, you two are pretty good players. Have you considered trying out for Varsity?"

"Uhh…we're part of the new JV team," Guy slowly replied. "We couldn't just drop them."

"I understand, you've been together for a long time now," Coach Fletcher replied with a nod of his head. "Orion hasn't started practices with you yet, right?"

"We start next week," Adam replied with a nod of his head.

"Hmmm," Coach Fletcher frowned, his eyes narrowing slightly. "I'm sure Coach Orion has talked to Coach Wilson about the two of you potentially moving up to Varsity, but it's really his call. He knows who's Varsity material and who's not as well as I do."

Adam turned around in his seat to lock eyes with Guy. His eyes were wide, eyebrows arching upwards in surprise. "We'll find out in a couple of days then, won't we?" Coach Fletcher asked, clapping his hands together once before getting to his feet. "Nice to meet you both and I look forward to hearing what you decide."

He offered his hand towards the two boys. Guy shook Coach Fletcher's hand, giving him a smile of thanks. Coach Fletcher then turned towards Adam and he slid his hand into the man's rough, calloused one. Coach Fletcher's fingers tightened around Adam's as he shook the man's hand.

"Thank you, sir," Adam replied.

"Well, I better get back to practice," Coach Fletcher said with a nod of his head as he removed his hand from Adam's. "Take care of yourselves and maybe I'll see you two on the ice." His footsteps echoed around the rink as he made his way down towards the ice.

Guy let out a low whistle. "What do you think about that?" he asked quietly. Adam just shrugged his shoulders; it wasn't anything he didn't expect. That didn't mean he wasn't happy for his friend. It actually brought him some relief; he didn't want to be the only new kid on a team again. "Varsity? Me?"

"Why do you sound so surprised?" Adam asked, turning towards Guy, lifting a hand to shove his shoulder. He then held out his palm for a high five and Guy halfheartedly slapped his palm against Adam's. "That's awesome, Guy!"

"I just don't believe it," Guy replied, slowly shaking his head back and forth. There was a loud blast of the whistle and the varsity players started making their way off the ice. Guy reached for the strap to his bag and Adam followed suit, shouldering his bag as well.

"Why not?" Adam asked, slowly making his way down the bleachers. "You're a great skater; you've got great skills, and you've really earned your place on the forward line especially with the Oreo Line." Often times, Adam felt like Guy went unnoticed, but it never seemed to bother his friends. "You deserve the chance to be on Varsity."

"That'd be pretty wild," Guy agreed, stepping down onto the concrete floor. His mouth then twisted to the side. "How am I going to tell Connie? Or the Ducks?"

"Connie will be happy for you and you know it," Adam replied before giving his friend a teasing smile. "Might even give you a big wet one for it." Guy rolled his eyes, a blush coming to his face. "As for the Ducks…they'll be happy for you, too if you decide to do it."

"Well…what about you?" Guy asked. "Are you going to do it? Everyone knows you're the best player on our team." Adam stayed silent for a moment.

He wasn't sure what he was going to do. He knew his dad would be thrilled to know about being offered a chance to be on Varsity and if he left and Guy stayed, he'd probably get more of the recognition he deserved. That's not to say he wouldn't get that recognition being moved up to Varsity; it was a big deal to be a freshmen on the Varsity team.

"I don't know," Adam admitted. "I think I want to see what this Coach Orion is like first."

"Yeah," Guy said, rapidly nodding his head. "Yeah, that's a good idea." He then lifted his wrist to glance at his watch. "We should get going if we want there to be anything left to eat for dinner."

Adam's stomach let out a loud growl as soon as dinner was mentioned. "Let's go," he agreed, leading the way towards the exit. The hockey players were getting closer and held back a groan. "Let's hurry before—"

"_Did you JV kids learn anything?_" Adam briefly closed his eyes but kept walking forward until a hockey stick thrust into his space, stopped him. "_I'm talking to you._"

"We were just watching," Guy explained as he turned around to face the Varsity hockey players. "That's all." He jerked his thumb over his shoulder. "We were just leaving."

"Excuse Cole," the sweaty haired boy with a C on his jersey said with a side glance in his teammate's direction. Other members of the Varsity team scooted past them, slowly making their way towards the locker room. He stuffed his glove covered hand into his armpit, pulling his hand free. "I'm Rick, captain of the Varsity team and this is our goalie, Scooter. " Scooter pushed his helmet up off his head and gave a nod in greeting. "We heard you two might be joining our team soon."

"We're not sure what we're going to do yet," Adam replied, glancing over at Guy out of the corner of his eye. Guy silently nodded his head.

"Well, let us see if we can change your minds," Rick replied, offering his glove free hand towards Adam. He felt his eyes narrow slightly. One minute Rick was mad at the Ducks being there and the next he wants to make nice with the two of them? Adam hesitantly shook Rick's hand. "You heard about the Varsity/JV party tomorrow, right?"

"Yeah, Danni mentioned it to us," Guy replied, crossing his arms over his chest.

"Good; we were hoping you got the invite," Scooter replied.

Guy unfolded one arm to shake Riley's hand, jut a hesitant. "We haven't decided what we're going to do yet," he said.

"Come to the party, hang out with us," Rick suggested as he removed his second glove, balancing his hockey stick against his shoulder, "and we'll tell you what being a Varsity Warrior is about; what you can expect, game schedules, practices, stuff like that."

"I don't knowwww," Guy slowly replied.

"At least think about it," Rick replied as he started to move past them. He tapped the end of his hockey stick on the ground, twice. "Maybe we'll see you later, Duckies."

"Yeah, maybe," Adam agreed. He watched Rick, Scooter, and Cole head into the locker rooms, slowly shaking his head from side to side. "That was weird." Guy gave him a curious look. "Our first day here and Rick and his friends made it clear to Julie, Russ, Ken, Dwayne, and Luis that they didn't want us here and now they're inviting us to parties and wanting to show us what it's like to be a warrior?" He wrinkled his nose. "It's just weird."

Guy made a noise in the back of his throat. "I guess I see what you mean," he replied before angling his head to the side, leading the way to the Dining Hall. Neither of them talked the whole way, deep in thought of what had just transpired in the past few minutes.

_You've had scouts watching you play sometimes, of course the Varsity coach would want to see you, _Adam thought to himself. _Take it as a compliment; they all thought you were good enough to come out and see if you're worth recruiting. It's what you've worked hard for._

"Hey," Adam called just before stepping through the swinging double doors of the Dining Hall. He could already hear the muffled voices and clinking of silverware on the plates as Guy turned towards him, a hand on the door. "Save me a seat; I'm going to call my parents and tell them the news."

"Sure," Guy replied with a nod of his head. "I'll tell the others where you are."

"Thanks, man," Adam said, giving his fiend a smile before moving past a group of students to reach the phone cubicle built into the wooden wall. He dropped down onto the bench, dropping his bag down onto the floor, and reached for the phone, holding it up against his ear. He dug around in his bag before pulling out his ID card, sliding it through the card reader before punching in his home phone number. The phone rang in his ear before he heard a click. "Hey, it's me."

"_Adam; good to hear from you, son_." His father's voice boomed in his ear. "_Its dinner time, but your mother and I were expecting a call from you._"

Adam made a face. His father didn't like any interruptions when dinner had already started. Adam lifted his eyes towards the large clock above the Dining Hall doors and saw that it was a little past 6pm. "Yeah, sorry. Everything's just been really busy," Adam replied, sliding his fingers through his long hair. "I have good news, though."

"_Oh? What is it, son?_"

"The hockey coaches here think I'd be a good fit for Eden Hall's Varsity team," Adam slowly replied.

"_Wonderful! I told you all that hard work would pay off. You had nothing to worry about; how could they turn you down? That's great news, son._" Adam could practically see the wide smile, the glint of triumph, on his dad's face. "_The Varsity team is top notch. You'll do just fine. I'm proud of you son, very proud."_

"Thanks, dad, but…" Adam replied quietly. "I don't know if…I want to be on the Varsity team."

"_No, no. Adam, this is what we've worked hard for all these years for. They're fighting to get you on the team; you can't waste their time._"

"Well, Guy got offered a shot, too," Adam replied. "I think he'd be really good. He deserves some recognition for his skills too." As soon as the words were out of his mouth, he wished he could've taken them back. He could hear his father's heavy sigh.

"_If it was between you and Guy for a spot on an NHL team, would you just give it to him_?"

"Well, no, but—"

"_You can't just give up opportunities like this for your friends. I'd rather you both fight it out then to just give it up. You've worked too hard to give up an opportunity like this. Do you understand me?"_

"Yeah, dad, I hear you," Adam replied, nodding his head before putting his forehead into the palm of his hand. "We have our first JV practice on Monday, I think the coaches will watch us skate then and figure out what team we're on so I'll call you after."

"_I look forward to your call_."

"Tell mom I said 'hi'," Adam said quietly, "and I'll talk to her on Monday. I don't want to keep you from dinner."

"_Sure thing, son. I look forward to your call._"

"Bye, dad," Adam replied before hanging up the phone.

* * *

Scooter lifted his bottle of Gatorade to his mouth as he followed Rick's gaze over towards the JV hockey team's table at dinner. Rick muttered something and rolled his eyes, shaking his head.

"Watch them crash and burn against the Bears at their first game," he commented, reaching his fork across the table to Cole's plate, stabbing it into a steaming piece of stake before dropping it onto his own plate. "They don't have their mind in the game at all; except for Adam and Guy anyway."

"I don't get it," Scooter spoke up after he swallowed, setting the bottle down onto the oak table. "You want to make their lives hell, but you also want Adam and Guy on our team?"

"And?" Rick asked, his eyebrows shooting up. He then closed his eyes, putting his hand up into the air, stopping Scooter from talking. "Don't tell me you're getting as dumb as Cole." He shifted his eyes towards his friend and waved a hand in the air. "No offense."

"None taken," Cole replied, grabbing his steak from Rick's plate. He held it between both hands and took a large bite out of it.

Rick blinked in surprise before turning back towards Scooter. "Anyway, Banks and Conway are best friends, making them play against each other will eventually tear each other apart, _especially_ during the Varsity/JV Showdown," he explained. He then jerked his thumb to the side, indicating the Ducks table. "Germaine is, arguably, the second best player on that team and dates one of the girl Ducks. Supposedly they're a cute couple or whatever, but they've been fighting lately. Stick him on Varsity and things should be hard for the two of them in the long run."

"Ok," Scooter agreed, slowly nodding his head. "You don't think they deserve their spot here and I think it sucks that they kicked out a team that's practiced for so long to be here, but _why_—"

"Look," Rick said in a low tone. Scooter leaned forward in his seat to hear him. "I have to admit the Ducks have to have some mad skills to be Goodwill Games champs. I mean, they came from nothing and now they're attending Eden Hall."

Scooter's eyebrows shot up. Rick was one of the most confident and cocky people he had ever met. He had never seen his friend actually admit if he thought an enemy had talent. The minute he saw Varsity potential, he would jump on the hockey player before they even got the chance to find their way around campus. It had happened to him, but he couldn't thank Rick enough for the opportunity.

He was incredibly shy when he first attended Eden Hall the year before and stuck mostly to himself, just making his way around campus and finding his classes ok. He had made a few friends—the Varsity/JV Welcome Party helping out a bit—and helped bring the JV team to the semi-finals of the championships before joining the Varsity team the next year. He really had the chance to open up his sophomore year.

"I think if they wanted to and really worked at it, they could beat us," Rick continued, "and I'm going to do anything I can to make sure that doesn't happen. This is my last year here, my last chance to play hockey and possibly have college scouts look at me. The Showdown is a big event, how pathetic would it look if we lost?"

"And you're going to win at any cost?" Scooter asked.

"All's fair in love and hockey," Rick replied with a smirk, shrugging his shoulders.

"But…there are rules in hockey, Rick," Cole pointed out, loudly smacking his lips as he ate. "You know, offsides, high sticking, hooking, checking from behind…" He trailed off with a chuckle. "So not everything is _really_ fair."

Scooter burst out laughing at the blank look on Rick's face. "He's got a point," Scooter pointed out.

"Whatever," Rick replied, reaching up to pinch the bridge of his nose. "It's fair game off the ice. I mean, hockey is a head game after all; you always have to be one step ahead of the other team. Well, I'm three steps ahead. Are you boys with me or what?" Rick gave Scooter a pointed look, hiking an eyebrow.

Scooter opened and closed his mouth. "You're the captain," he replied, "whatever you say."

"And don't you forget it," Rick replied with a grin.

* * *

**A/N: **I know this is a slow start as I've been introducing the main points to this story. I hope you all feel as if the next few chapters picks up the pace of the story and pushes things forward.


	5. Sitting Duck

**05:**

**Sitting Duck**

* * *

_Back home was so much different than it is here in Minnesota. It's colder—which a lot of people have gotten into arguments about—and had a great historical downtown feel to the city. Not every building reflected the sunlight up to the point where I had to worry about being blinded. In fact, Eden Hall reminded me of home with its brick buildings and old feel to the campus._

_But, it wasn't as comforting as I hoped. I missed being around my family. I have barely even been here long and I feel like I'm at a dead end or I'm getting ready to run into one. Or maybe I'm just really worried about being stuck; not getting a chance to show my skills on the ice._

_It was really rare for any high school hockey player to make the NHL. But, this was Eden Hall so the percentages were more like 1%of all people. That was a plus, I guess. _

_I really was risking a lot by being here, we all were, but whether or not I could prove that it was a good risk was still up in the air. I was missing a lot back home. Just like my family was missing a lot about me. _

* * *

Julie leaned against the wall of campus security, staring at a large poster with various "Do not do drugs" phrases printed on it. She slowly pulled herself forward, making a face as her chocolate covered shirt unstuck itself from the wall with a loud noise imitating the sound of Velcro. Chocolate covered Ducks sat around her and on the floor as they waited to be allowed to leave.

"We're in so much trouble," Averman groaned, rocking back and forth in his seat. "_Major _trouble. If we weren't, we wouldn't still be sitting here. Oh this is bad, this is very bad. This is very, very, _very_—"

"Shut up, Averman!" Fulton groaned, practically shoving Averman off of the bench they were sitting on.

"Why did we go to that party again?"Guy asked aloud, raking his fingers through his hair, trying to separate the strands stuck together by the chocolate.

"Because we thought it'd be fun?" Adam said as more of a question than a statement. "And because Danni said we should go."

"Hey!" Danielle called from her corner of the room, using a spare pen to scrape off chunks of chocolate from her shirt. "First off, _we _were all invited by Scooter, not just me. And second; I never said I would go." She punched her thigh before looking over at Connie and Julie. "'_Come on, it won't hurt to take a bit of a break_'."

"It wouldn't," Connie protested in a high pitched voice. "We were making sure your head didn't explode from all of your studying. We've barely been in classes, what do you need to study for?" Danielle just stayed silent, crossing her arms over her chest. "Besides, Scooter invited you; it'd be kind of rude if you didn't go."

"The Warriors are bad news," Charlie spoke up, "we can all agree on that. Let's just steer clear of them and focus on our own game."He was silent for a moment, tapping his fingers on his jeans clad leg. "If they called mom, she's going to kill me." He let out a sigh, running his hands over his face before looking over at Luis, Russ, and Fulton. "How did the chocolate fight start, anyway?"

Julie glanced over at the three Ducks, wanting to know the answer to that as well. One minute she was surveying the Student Lounge where the party was being held—watching as student athletes danced around the room, shouting and cheering, and clapping along to the beat of the music—and the next, she and everyone else in the room was covered in chocolate.

She had been leaning against the wall of the room, nursing her soda, watching the party unfold with Adam to her left and Danni to her right—who kept checking her watch every ten minutes. Charlie, Dwayne, Goldberg, and Averman were crowded around the food table, alternating between drinking and eating. Luis was one of the few who actually looked like he was in his own element as he danced through crowds of student athletes, his sights set on any leggy girl that seemed to walk by him. Connie and Guy also looked like they were having a great time—if they could last more than five minutes from sneaking in a kiss or two. She couldn't find Kenny, Fulton, or Russ anywhere.

"So, how do you think hockey is going to go?" Adam had asked, turning his gaze towards her. He lifted his cup of soda to his mouth, taking in a few quick gulps before letting out an "Ahhh" before he smacked his lips.

"It's going to be different, but it's still hockey," Julie said with a shrug of her shoulders. "What about you? What do you think?"

"I think different is the right word for it," Adam replied with a bit of a sigh. Julie blinked, hinting a bit of sadness to his tone.

"Is everything ok, Adam?" she asked him and he instantly put a smile to his face.

"Oh, it's nothing," he reassured her with a wave of his hand. "Don't worry about it, I was just saying." Julie continued to peer at him and he sucked in a breath of air. "Do you want some more soda?"

"Yes, please," Julie replied, handing him her cup, giving him a bright smile of thanks.

Once he was gone, she slumped up against the wall, surveying the room for the umpteenth time. She got a glimpse of furniture tipped over, drinks spilled, and food crushed into the carpet before a mass of red filled her vision as Scooter stood in front of her. Julie quickly looked him over; his Warriors jacket over a charcoal gray t-shirt, jeans, and nice shoes. If she had to guess, for him, that was as casual as it got.

"Hey, glad you guys could make it," he said to Danni, giving her a warm smile. "I got the feeling you weren't going to come."

"Not like you really gave me the choice," Danni replied, hiking an eyebrow as she crossed an arm over her chest, making sure she was careful to not spill the soda in her cup. She then gave him an over the top, closed lipped smile."Besides, I'm directionally challenged, remember?"

"So, it was an accident that you found your way over here?" Scooter asked, an amused look crossing his face.

"We heard there was a chocolate fountain," Julie jumped into the conversation, speaking in a monotone. "Believe me, it was an accident for any of us to even know it's here." Scooter's lips twitched upwards a split second before he started to laugh.

He moved his cup from one hand to the other, offering his free hand towards her. "I'm Scooter."

"Yeah, I know," Julie replied, with a nod of her head. She slid her hand into his, allowing him to shake her hand. "I'm—"

"Julie the Cat," Scooter finished for her. "We know all about you guys." He waved his arm off to the side, indicating the other Varsity players in the room. "Have to do research on our competition, you know?"

"Yeah, I know," Julie agreed with a nod of her head. "It's just part of the game."

"Exactly," Scooter replied. He looked down into his drink before shaking it slightly, the ice clinking together. "So, could I get you two something to drink?"

"Already got one, thanks," Danielle replied, wiggling the cup in her hand. Scooter turned his attention over to Julie.

"Adam's gone to get me something," Julie said, putting a hand in the air, giving a brief shake of her head. "Thanks, though."

"Mhm." Scooter gave a brief nod of his head, his eyebrows twitching slightly, before lifting his drink to his mouth as silence fell over the three of them. His eyes were still on Julie. "So, are you—"

Julie jumped when he heard a loud crash and turned her head to see Fulton, Russ, and Luis being shoved into the center of the room by Warriors, all covered in chocolate splatters. They were all shouting something at each other, Russ and Luis trying to hold Fulton back as the Warrior hockey players yelled at them.

"Oh, no," Julie heard herself groan, watching as the other Ducks hurried to back their teammates up.

"On the bright side," Danni said as she set down her cup of soda on the bookshelf near hear. She gathered her hair up into a ponytail, reaching for the elastic band on her wrist. "Portman's not here. Someone would've gone through a wall by now if he was." She let out a huff of air before making her way over to the crowd of fighting athletes.

Before Julie knew it, she was in the throng of limbs, pushing and shoving, trying to separate her teammates from the Warriors. And then she found herself sitting in campus security for 'disturbing the peace' and for a 'brawl involving chocolate'. Looking around at her teammates, she probably would've laughed about the whole situation if they hadn't been sitting there for almost an hour.

"Luis decided it was a good idea to start flirting with Rick Riley's girlfriend," Russ said, turning to give Luis a pointed look of annoyance.

"How was I supposed to know that she was his girlfriend?" Luis asked. His eyes widened as he put his hands up defensively. Chocolate stained the lines on his hands. He started rubbing his hands together, little flecks of dried chocolate falling to the ground. "Fulton was the one that threw the chocolate first."

"It was a good shot, too," Fulton said with a smile. "_Pow_! Right in the kisser of that Cole guy."

"Why aren't any of _them_ in here?" Ken asked, slumping in his seat, crossing one leg over the other. His hair looked like it had gotten brown highlights.

"Yeah, they were the ones fighting, too," Goldberg added, around licks of the ice cream cone in his hand. Julie felt her stomach growl and wished she had been smart enough to grab something to eat before she left the party. She grabbed a lock of her sticky hair, holding it in front of her face. Preferably something not chocolate.

"Where I come from…" Dwayne let out a low whistle as he flipped his hat in his hands. "My momma surely would skin me alive. Back talking is one thing, but fighting?" He just shook his head.

"Three words, Kenny: Because. They're. Rich," Russ said, counting off on his fingers.

"Well, what does that mean?" Dwayne asked, a confused look on his face.

"It means they can keep themselves out of trouble with all of the money they have," Averman replied with a sigh, starting to rock faster. "While we're stuck here in trouble. Big, big, _big_ trouble. I mean _huge_. I mean-"

"Shut _up_, Averman," Guy snapped as the door to the office opened. Everyone turned to see Coach Ted Orion step into the room, crossing his arms over his chest. Julie felt herself sinking low in her chair, trying to get as small, to take up the least amount of space as possible.

"Well, I was hoping that you'd all be preparing for practice tomorrow," Coach Orion finally spoke up after a long moment of silence. "Getting plenty of rest…" His eyes lingered over at the ice cream cone in Goldberg's hand. "Eating healthily."

Goldberg made a show of loudly swallowing the ice cream that was in his hands, his eyes widening. He looked around wildly, desperate for a trash can. He quickly shoved it into Russ's hands; who made a face at the spit covered melting treat. Russ looked around, locking eyes with Averman who rapidly shook his head from side to side, his glasses threatening to fly off his face.

"There's a trash can beside you, _stupid_," Russ said with a roll of his eyes, throwing the ice cream cone over at Averman. Averman caught it against his chest, letting out a high pitched gasp of air. He rapidly tapped his feet on the floor before leaning over to dump the ice cream into the trash can.

Julie let out the breath of air she didn't realize she was holding. Her heart rammed in her chest as she took her gaze off of her teammate and then up towards Coach Orion who made a clicking sound with his tongue.

"You're all probably wondering why I'm here," he spoke up. He still didn't get a response from any of the Ducks. His shoes squeaked on the linoleum as he took a couple steps closer. "You also probably thought that the minute you set foot on this campus, away from your parents, away from home, away from your chores, you could do whatever it was that you wanted. Well, you were wrong. Your parents may not be responsible for you while you're here, but the Deal, your teachers, your _coach_…" He let the word hang in the air for a moment, "are the ones responsible for you and your safety while you're here on campus. That is why I'm here tonight."

Coach Orion made a smacking noise with his lips before he briefly closed his eyes. "So…does anybody want to explain to me what had happened tonight and why I was called down to campus security to find my…" he trailed off really looking them over, his upper lip curling slightly when he saw all of the chocolate. "Team."

"It was just a…misunderstanding," Charlie quietly spoke up.

"Getting into a fight and throwing chocolate at each other was a misunderstanding?" Coach Orion repeated, hiking an eyebrow.

"Yes, sir," Julie answered, her voice barely above a whisper.

"Well, practice tomorrow sure will be interesting," Coach Orion replied with a slight curl of his upper lip. He clasped his hands together behind his back before slowly looking around at each Duck, his eyes seeming to narrow into a glare with each player he laid his eyes on. "Very interesting indeed. Now, go get some sleep. Tryouts start promptly at 3:30pm, I hope to have this all talked out with the Dean by that time."

Julie instantly jumped to her feet and speed walked out of the campus security room, aware of the stiffness of her joints as the chocolate cracked. For the first time since she joined the team, the Ducks were all silent.

"Ok, so that's…half an hour of studying left," Danielle glancing down at her watch. "Good, that's good. Oh wait, I still have to shower, too. Shoot!"

"Do you ever stop?" Goldberg asked with a groan, putting his hands over his ears. "We've only had classes for three days and I'm _already_ tired of school."

"It's not so bad here," Julie said, sliding her hands into her jeans pockets. "You have to admit it's…pretty interesting."

She looked down at her clothes before looking over at Connie, a small smile tugging at her lips. Connie caught her eye and a giggle escaped past her lips. She looped her arm around Guy's waist, smiling up at him. Guy shared her smile, draping his arm over her shoulder, a chuckle reaching the cool night air.

"We look like mud people," Guy said, as snorts and short bursts of laughter went through the group of skaters.

"If only we could see what the Varsity players look like," Russ said with a mock wistful sigh, an evil grin coming to his face. "Especially after Fulton nailed Cole." That got everybody doubled over in hysterics, arms wrapped around their stomachs, chests burning from the lack of air.

Julie opened her eyes, wiping at the tears that gathered in her eyes. A lot of the time, Julie forgot that she hadn't been a Duck for as long as her other teammates, but it was moments like this where she felt like it was something she had been a part of all her life. She clicked with them as a friend so easily, apart from a slight bump at the beginning which entailed them all being tied together. And it _was _frustrating to not get a chance to show her skills on the ice until the very end of the Junior Goodwill Games…

Julie shook her head, clearing the thoughts from her head. She was on the team now, she was friends with all the Ducks, that's all that mattered. She had proven herself to be a valuable member of the team—even if she didn't get ice time—and they all enjoyed having her there.

"Remember what Bombay said?" Julie prompted as her laughter subsided. "The most important thing about hockey is to have fun." She looked over at the other Ducks. "We can do this. Just as long as we remember to have fun."

* * *

_Freshmen Warriors:_

_-Skate 5 laps_

_-Passing drills_

_-Shots on goal (Groups of three, climb the ladder)_

_ I'll be there as soon as I can._

_-Coach Orion_

"Something tells me, Coach Orion isn't about having fun," Averman said with a groan the next afternoon as the Ducks stepped over to the ice rink the next day for their first practice. He lifted his hand and tore down the piece of paper that was hanging up, passing it along to the other Ducks.

Julie pressed her lips together as she glanced at the list over Ken's shoulder. It was finally her chance to show everyone what she was made of. She slid her hand down across her jersey, her fingers skimming the blue letters that made up the word _Maine_, slowly letting out a breath of air.

"So, he's going to be late?" she asked as she rested her hockey stick against the pads covering her chest. She shoved her hands into the gloves she held tucked tightly under her arm. Her eyes shifted towards the few Varsity players who were using their free time to skate around. "On our first day?"

"Hey, we're just as good as anybody out there," Connie said to her, gently hitting her shoulder with the stick in her hands. Julie gave a smile, but it wasn't why she was worried.

She was wondering if Coach Orion would be back in time to see her in goal. Goldberg was always the first man up; he had been on the team longer it was rightfully his spot. She loved Goldie and thought he was a great asset to the team, bringing jokes and keeping everyone's spirits light, but she knew she had the better if Coach put her in goal first, other teams would be intimidated.

"I don't know whether that's a good or a bad thing," Ken commented with a sigh as he passed the paper before following Charlie out towards the ice. Julie tossed her stick down onto the ice, adding to the pile the other Ducks made.

"Have a good practice, Ducks," Rick called out to them as he, Cole, and Scooter skated towards them. He gently tapped Charlie's shoulder with his hockey stick. Charlie used his hand to knock the stick away from him. "Orion's a good coach; a hard worker, knows how to get the best out of you." He then turned towards his teammate. "Isn't that right, Scooter?"

"Wouldn't be as good as I am today without learning from him," Scooter replied with a nod of his head.

"Yeah, and listen, about the fight yesterday," Rick said, turning back towards the Ducks. "I feel bad about how some of my teammates had acted." He put a gloved hand over his heart. "I take full responsibility for them. I went to the Dean this morning and talked it all out with him; you're not going to get in trouble or anything like that. It's all just being looked at as…"

"A misunderstanding?" Charlie asked, his eyebrows shooting up.

"Exactly," Rick replied. Julie could see from where she was standing that a muscle in Rick's jaw was starting to twitch. "So, no problems here, right?" He didn't even bother waiting before he started heading off the ice, motioning for his teammates to follow him. "See you later, Duckies."

"Whatever," Charlie said with a roll of his eyes. "Come on, let's warm up. Come on, Cowboy, bring out your cattle rope."

"I don't know about this, Charlie," Luis said with a shake of his head. "I mean, you saw what Coach Orion put on that paper. We have to do laps and stuff. We might get in trouble."

"We won't get in trouble and we _will_ be doing laps," Charlie reassured him. A thoughtful look crossed his face. "Just…faster than he probably expects us to do them." He gave a small smile. "Especially you, Luis. We'll still be warming up, just like he wants."

"What do you think?" Julie asked, catching up with Adam.

"I think you're not going to get Charlie to change his mind no matter what," Adam replied. He twisted his mouth to the side. "We _are _still warming up like Orion wants." He closed an eye, his nose wrinkling slightly, as he thought. "It's just…more fun, I guess."

"That's true," Julie agreed, a smile coming to her face. It widened when she heard a loud "Yee-haw" from Dwayne. "But, it won't be fun for you when you get caught."

"We'll see about that," Adam replied, turning around to face her as he skated backwards before taking off across the ice. "Where does he even keep that rope, anyway."

"This coming from the guy who always has a bottle of hot sauce on him," Averman said, pushing his glasses up his nose, and successfully bonking himself in the face with his glove, knocking them askew.

"Y'all little colts and fillies better start runnin'," Dwayne shouted, stepping out onto the ice after retrieving his lasso.

He spun it over his head with his hand as the Ducks scattered, pushing and shoving each other to make a clear space for themselves. Julie gave Adam a hard shove, nearly pushing him into the boards before she took off, laughing at the startled look on his face.

Julie skated around the ice rink as fast as she could, making her laps just like Coach Orion wanted. As she skated around, she looked up at the all of the banners hanging down from the ceiling and it really hit her that she was there at Eden Hall, part of the new JV team. She was finally going to get her chance to prove herself…if she could avoid Dwayne first.

The whistling of his cattle rope reached her ears and she quickly cut her skates into the ice, shifting direction, ducking her head. She laughed triumphantly when she heard the rope hit the ice and caught a flash of brown out of the corner of her eye.

"Looks like you're losing your touch, Cowboy," Julie taunted as she straightened, skating away from Dwayne.

"Shoot, a cowboy never loses his touch, Cat Lady," Dwayne said with his usual easy-going smile as he gathered up the rope. "You may be slick, but you're not—" He stopped when he heard a loud slamming sound and turned his head to see Coach Orion step out onto the ice, skates on his feet. Dwayne's smile disappeared as he swung his hands behind his back, hiding the rope.

"Uh oh," Julie heard Ken whisper as he slid past her.

"Busted," Russ muttered.

"I thought I told all of you to skate laps, work on passing, and to get started on passing drills," he called out, his voice echoing around the area. He snapped his fingers a couple of times. "Everybody! Over here! Now! Take a knee! Let's go!"

Julie cringed, before joining her teammates over near the goal that Coach Orion was heading towards. "Yo, what're the Varsity coaches doing here?" Luis asked, lowering himself onto the ice.

He shoved a gloved hand into his armpit, tightening down with his elbow. He removed his hand and pointed up at the bleachers. Julie craned her neck to see past Coach Orion to see two older men taking seats in the bleachers, talking quietly to each other, occasionally pointing down at them. They both had clipboards in their hands.

"I've invited them down to see your practice," Coach Orion said, putting his steely gaze on Luis. "Apparently they believe some of you have Varsity potential and want to see firsthand what you can bring. However, I'm sad for them to see that you don't follow basic instructions that I gave you."

Julie swallowed thickly, bowing her head for a brief moment before looking back up at him. She didn't dare look at any of her teammates. "I know you're all used to the way Coach Bombay ran things, but it'll be different with me. Today is a basic assessment of your skills and tomorrow I'll be assessing your conditioning."

Groans rippled through the group, but Coach Orion didn't seem to notice. Or even care for that matter. "Now that you're all warmed up, we can move on with the rest of what I have planned for today," he continued in his booming tone. "Julie Gaffney."

Julie blinked when her name was suddenly called and she slowly lifted he hand into the air. He nodded his head towards the goal. "I know you're called 'The Cat' but I want to see if you can really live up to that name. Get in goal."

"Yes, Coach," Julie replied with a short nod of her head.

She glanced over at Goldberg, who shared a look with Averman, as she got to her feet, gliding over to the pile of sticks and hockey helmets. She skidded to a stop next to the piles, spraying ice over the boards. She grabbed her hockey stick first before reaching for her helmet.

As Julie pulled her helmet down over her eyes, she felt a burst of confidence from her.

She made a mental note to send home a game schedule as soon as she got one. _Hopefully, mom and dad can come down and catch a game_. Julie adjusted her pads under her jersey, glancing down at the logo emblazoned across her chest. _If dad even remembers._

A couple years prior, right before the Goodwill Games, Julie Gaffney's father was diagnosed with early on-set dementia.

Those games were hard for her; she had to leave right when her family was changing. He was her biggest fan, but the more he forgot about her games, the harder she worked. And for what? To be picked for the Junior Goodwill Games just to sit on the bench for more than half of the tournament.

_It's what I deserve I suppose, _she thought at the time. But, that disappointment just stuck with her. She knew he was watching from home and wanted to see his little girl play to the best of her abilities. After all, if it wasn't for him, she wouldn't have taken up hockey. Ok, he had put her in figure skating first, but he accepted her switch in sports and had always encouraged her to challenge herself.

It was why she had gone to talk to Bombay about putting her in the game. She had to show her dad that she could play at the next level, that she could handle anything and everything the boys could. But, when Gordon's words, that she wasn't going to play because Goldberg was on a hot streak, she tuned out everything else he needed to say to her. On the one hand, she understood what he was saying, but on the other hand, she was frustrated.

"I left a lot back home to be here," she had said to him, brushing her hair back behind her hears. "I left my team back home."

"So did Luis, and Portman, and Dwayne," Coach Bombay had replied, sitting back in his chair.

"Yeah, but they actually get the chance to play," Julie said quietly. Coach Bombay slowly nodded his head, leaning back in his chair, running a hand over his face. "I just want my shot, Coach, that's all. I need to play."

"I understand your frustrations, Julie—"

"No, you…" Julie trailed off, pressing her lips together. Coach Bombay gave her a curious look, his eyebrows sliding towards each other as he leaned forward in his seat, slightly. "Sorry, Coach. Go ahead."

"Julie, is something wrong?" Coach Bombay asked, tilting his head just slightly.

Julie looked back at Coach Bombay before dropping her gaze to the floor. She didn't want to use her dad as an excuse to get to play, but he seemed to truly care about her and her well being. But, he barely knew a thing about her or what her life was like back home. People just knew her as "The Cat" with lightning hands and a fierce game.

Even cats had a softer side to them and wanted to be cuddled. But, she couldn't just come out and say, "My dad probably won't remember this moment. On the off chance he will, I want to make him proud." So, she kept quiet and waited for her time to shine.

It was her time now.

* * *

**A/N: **I didn't intend for it to be almost three weeks between updates. I had so much school stuff going on before the end of the year. And then I didn't like what I had previously written for this chapter so I did it all over again.


	6. I Won't Duck and Run

**06:**

**I Won't Duck and Run**

* * *

_If there's anything that Coach Bombay has taught us over the years, it's to never be afraid to finish what you started. Whether we're winning or losing, we try and finish every game with just as much energy and intensity as when we first start out. If you could do that, if you believe in yourself, then things could turn out in your favor. _

_I only wish he taught us what to do when you doubted yourself and things started to go downhill._

* * *

"All I'm saying is itching powder should do the trick. Remember when Peter first joined the team and we went camping? He barely talked to us until we started talking about pranks, and he came up with the idea of putting itching powder in Karp's sleeping bag?"

Charlie laughed as he threw his backpack down onto the floor in front of the counter at Mickey's Diner before climbing up onto a stool next to Jesse. "Yeah, I remember," he replied with an amused smile. "We had to bribe him with chocolate chip pancakes to wash himself off in the freezing lake."

"And now Peter doesn't stop talking," Jesse added.

"Oh, I remember that day," Casey said as she came up to the two boys, a stack of menus in her arm. "It's a mother's dream to send smelly and hyper kids home to their parents."

"It's just an idea," Jesse said with a shrug.

"Yeah, a bad one," Casey replied, setting down her stack of menus. She then reached for the elastic band in her hair and shook out her curly hair. "How many times do I have to tell you that retaliating won't help anything?" Charlie opened his mouth and she put up a hand. "_Off _the ice, I mean. I got a call from the Dean today. Were you ever going to tell me about the party and your detention?"

Charlie's eye widened just slightly. Casey let out a mirthless laugh. "Charlie, you go to high school, not college," she pointed out to him. "Did you think I wasn't going to be notified about it at all?"

"Hoping, actually," Charlie replied with a bit of a smile. Casey sighed and his smile faded as he put his hands up defensively. "I only found out about the detention today. Besides, they started it."

"I don't care who started it, Charlie, you decided to finish it instead of just walking away," Casey replied with a sigh, tapping her fingernails on the counter.

Charlie bit back a groan. He had already heard enough about how "Walking away is the best way to end a fight" and "Creating physical distance is essential", and "the reputation of Eden Hall" blah, blah, blah at their meeting with Dean Buckley that morning.

The Dean had gone on and on about how attending school on a scholarship was a big deal and how they shouldn't do anything to risk the revocation of their scholarships before he slipped into how expensive the furniture in the student lounge was and how the Ducks would be serving detention for the fight.

She then peered over at him, almost suspicious. "I thought you said someone talked to the Dean about it," she said as more of a statement than a question.

"Rick Riley? Whose father is on the board?" Charlie asked with a snort. "Oh, talked to the Dean, don't worry." He then reached down to grab his backpack before lifting it by the strap, throwing it over his shoulder.

"Your father will be here soon to take the two of you home," Casey quickly rattled off, her eyes shifting over towards two patrons who were trying to get her attention. "And I'm getting off late so we're going to have a late dinner. Or you can order some pizza if you'd like."

"Got it," Charlie said over his shoulder, waving his hand in the air.

"Jesse, it was nice to see you, again. I haven't had the chance to talk to your parents in a little while, but please tell them I said 'hello'."

"I will, Mrs. C," Jesse said, giving her a warm smile as Charlie motioned for him to follow the path he was making towards the back corner of the diner.

"He talked to the Dean enough to get _some_ of us out of detention," Charlie said, loud enough for Jesse to hear him.

"That sucks, man," Jesse said with a shake of his head, dropping down into the booth, sitting across from Charlie. "Who got out of it?"

"Adam, Guy, Danni, and Julie," Charlie replied, counting off on his fingers. He rolled his eyes. "I don't even know why I trusted the guy. He made it pretty clear he didn't want us on campus, why would he suddenly turn around and want to help us?" He kicked his backpack aside, wincing slightly as the corner of one of his textbooks hit his shin.

"Why only them?" Jesse asked.

"Well, Adam and Guy made the Varsity team so that's probably why," Charlie explained and Jesse's eyes widened. "Danni and Julie, I don't know." He gave a small shake of his head, briefly glancing up at the ceiling before letting out a sigh. "We're trying to convince them to do it. I don't care if they have any resentment for us, or whatever, but it's a great opportunity for them. Plus, you know how Adam's dad is at times. I don't think Guy is going to do it."

"Yeah, I remember," Jesse said, before letting out a low whistle. "Guy should at least try it, he's a great player." He then rapped his knuckle on the table. "Hey, man, I'm sorry you're all having a hard time at the school."

"We're only there for hockey so…" Charlie said, shrugging his shoulders. "You want to come over for dinner? Mom and Kyle want me to eat there tonight. I think if you're there I can defer a lecture for a while."

"Always using me as a scapegoat, nothing ever changes," Jesse said with a laugh, lifting his hand to slap Charlie's palm. "I'll have to ask my parents first, but I'm sure it'll be ok, man." He stretched his legs out in front of him, resting them on the bench next to Charlie. "So how's the new hockey coach?"

"He's…different," Charlie slowly replied. He ran his hands over his face. "He was the one that had to pick us up or whatever from campus security and he was _not _happy about it." He suddenly slapped his hand down onto the table. Jesse and a few other patrons jumped at the sudden noise. Charlie ignored them as he rested his chin in his hand. "Dude, he's changing everything!"

"How so?" Jesse asked.

Charlie's eyebrows shot up. "Fulton's now on right, he moved Danni back to defense," he said, counting off on his fingers, "Julie is first in goal, and now I don't even have the Captain's C." Jesse let out a low whistle, his nose wrinkling slightly. "Yeah, tell me about it."

"Well, Julie _is _the better conditioned goalie," he replied. "And, who knows, maybe the changes will work out." He scratched the back of his neck and Charlie suddenly felt like he was sitting across from a stranger. "I mean, like, Guy could be…captain or something…"

"Whose side are you on, anyway?" Charlie asked, staring at his friend as if he had suddenly told him that clouds were made from cotton candy.

"Yours," Jesse replied. He put his hands up in front of him. "Hey, man, I'm just saying that the changes might not even be a bad thing." He folded his hands down onto the table. "What's up with you anyway?"

"What do you mean?" Charlie asked. He shifted his gaze out the window, watching the traffic that rolled up to the stop light outside of the diner.

"You've been really…different?" Jesse said as more of a question. Charlie didn't turn away from the window, but shifted his gaze to his friend's direction. "Yeah, I guess that's the best way to describe it." Charlie silently widened his eyes, prompting his friend to continue. "Been that way even before school started. So…what's up?"

"Nothing," Charlie replied. Jesse twisted his mouth to the side, giving him a pointed look. "I'm fine." He slowly let out a sigh through his nose, trying to bring his shoulders down away from his ears.

"Whatever you say, man," Jesse replied with a shake of his head.

Charlie made a humming sound in the back of his throat as he looked back out the window again. He watched as a car pulled up into the parking lot. The passenger side door swung open and Charlie's step-father climbed out of the car.

"Oh, there's Kyle," he said, pushing his fingers between the blinds over the window, pushing them open farther.

"About time," Jesse commented, peering through the blinds as well.

"Now I can ask them together if you can come over." Charlie watched as Kyle rested an arm on the top of the car. His lips moved as he said something to the driver before his shoulders shook as he laughed. "Wonder who that is."

"Probably a coworker or something," Jesse replied. "Doesn't he usually drive himself?"

"Yeah, but mom had an earlier shift today so she took the car," Charlie replied, sliding closer to the window, crushing himself up against the wall. "That's why we had to take the bus here, or he would've driven us."

His eyebrows crinkled together as Kyle bent forward slightly at the waist and gave, whoever was driving him, a wave before stepping back, closing the passenger seat door. He stood and watched the car pull out of the parking lot before he made his way into the diner.

"I think that was a woman," Charlie said as he slowly turned away from the window.

"It could be a guy," Jesse said, looking as uncertain as Charlie suddenly felt. "I mean Averman had to be threatened by Fulton to have his glasses lenses permanently turned into contacts for him to stop making that mistake." Charlie laughed along with him.

"Good point," he said as he reached for his backpack. "Come on." He made his way back up to the front of the diner, gently nudging Kyle's shoulder. "Hey, can Jesse stay for dinner tonight?"

"I don't see why not," Kyle replied, lifting a hand to muss Charlie's hair. Charlie reached his hand up and started fixing it. "We're having pizza for dinner. I'll have you two order it, since I have an important conference call I need to take when we get home." He then turned towards Charlie's friend. "As long as it's ok with your parents, Jesse."

"I'll call them right now," Jesse said, reaching into his pocket with one hand, using the other to indicate to the payphone sitting outside of the diner.

"Kyle, keep a close eye on them this time," Casey said with a heavy sigh as she returned to the counter, her car keys in her hand. Kyle reached for it and she pulled it away. "We don't want another TP incident."

"The neighbors didn't press charges," Kyle said defensively. "Besides, it was mischief night." Charlie nodded his head in agreement.

"I'm serious," Casey said, suddenly looking very tired.

"So am I," Kyle replied with a chuckle. Casey's jaw tightened. Charlie looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Is…everything ok?" he asked.

"Everything's fine," Kyle replied, reaching for the keys. "Your mother's worrying over nothing. Like usual."

"Worrying over _nothing_?!" Casey repeated, her eyes popping open. Kyle gave her a quick kiss on the cheek.

"Love you," Kyle said, swinging the keys around his finger, putting his arm around Charlie, steering him out of the diner. "See you when you get home."

"Hey, I never got the chance to tell you about hockey the other day," Charlie said. "You won't believe what our coach—"

"We still need to talk about the fact that I got a call at work today about this party you got into a fight at," Kyle said interrupting him. "But, could this wait until later? I need to get home and prepare for the call. It's really important."

_They're always important_. Charlie gave a nod of his head. "Sure," he said. "But, can I at least explain how the fight wasn't even our fault—"

"Charlie," Kyle said with a heavy sigh. "Come on, I need to keep my mind on my work. We can talk later."

Charlie pressed his lips together. "Fine." He put on the best smile he could and Kyle clapped him on the back. "Who was that woman that drove you here, anyway?"

"Huh? Oh, no one," Kyle asked, removing his arm from around Charlie's shoulders to pull open the door to the diner, a small bell going off. "Just a friend from work. A friend of both your mother and I. She was giving me a ride since your mother had the car."

Charlie hinted an edge of insistence to Kyle's words, but before he could ask him about it, he collided with a girl he didn't see as he rounded the corner.

"Excuse you!"

Charlie got a good look at her and instantly recognized her from school. He put a hand to his stomach as it flipped. "Petition Girl," Charlie said, stepping away from the girl, getting a good look at her. "You're excused." She gave him an odd look. "Seems we're always running into each other, huh?"

"It's Linda, actually," the girl replied, brushing her hair back behind hear ears. "Not Petition Girl."

"My mistake," Charlie replied before offering her his hand. "We haven't formerly met. My name is Charlie Conway."

"Captain of the JV team," Linda replied, slowly nodding her head. Her lips twitched as she crossed he r arms over her chest. "I remember you." She angled her head just slightly, her eyes shining with amusement. "You and your friends had started a fight at the party."

"You were there?" Charlie asked, crossing his arms over his chest as well.

"For signatures," Linda replied with a small sniff.

"I see, and did you get any more?" Charlie asked, giving her a pleasant smile. Linda peered back at him for a moment, chewing on her bottom lip just slightly.

"No," she admitted and Charlie's smile widened. She pointed a warning finger in his face. "But, that doesn't mean that no one's interested in hearing what I have to say."

"Well…maybe I might be interested," Charlie said. Linda's eyebrows lifted in surprise. He was sure she was about to smile before a look of doubt slid onto her face.

"Oh, yeah, right," she said to him. "Nice try, I almost fell for it." She then huffed, turning on her heel to make her way into the diner. Charlie felt his jaw drop as he stared after her. Blinking rapidly, he turned towards Jessie who made his way over towards his friend, chuckling.

"What….just happened?" he asked, scratching the back of his neck.

"Girls, man," Jesse said, thumping his friend on the back. "Who knows?"

Charlie shoved Jesse's shoulder as he made his way across the parking lot, shifting his eyes over towards his step-father. _Yeah. Who knows?_

* * *

"The teachers here must live off of our sweat and tears or something," Goldberg said the next afternoon as he threw his heavy backpack onto the floor as he dropped down into an empty seat in the detention room. He let out a sigh as he stretched his legs out in front of him as far as they could go just as the bell rang. "This is ridiculous."

"At least we have plenty of time to finish our homework," Averman commented as he leaned back in his chair, stretching his arms over his head.

"Man, this isn't fair," Fulton said with a loud sigh, reaching his hands up to adjust the bandana around his hair. "We weren't the only ones who got into that fight." He then lifted his foot and kicked the back of Luis's chair. "Why'd you even have to flirt with that girl?"

"I didn't know she had a boyfriend, ok?" Luis said with a groan before twisting in his seat to face Fulton. "The minute she said that Rick was her boyfriend and that he got jealous, I was on my way out there and then—" He made explosion sounds with his mouth before throwing his hands into the air. "Chocolate was flying everywhere."

"'_It's all taken care of_'," Connie said in a deep voice. "Man, I can't believe we even fell for that." She twisted in her seat and raked her fingers through her hair. "There has to be somebody we can talk to or something we can do?"

"Ooh, she wants to bring down the Velvet Hammer," Averman said in a sing-song voice.

"The Velvet what?" Dwayne asked, tilting his hat out of his face. "What's that mean?"

"It's a nickname, Dwayne," Charlie explained to the confused Duck. "Just like we call you Cowboy." Dwayne smiled, nodding his head in satisfaction. He tapped his fingers on the chair. "My parents nearly blew a gasket when they heard about it."

"Shoot, have you ever been punished over the phone?" Dwayne asked with a chuckle. "Man, my momma was _really _pissed ta hear 'bout that. I'm grounded from doing anything on this campus the rest of the time I have detention."

"How'd she ground you all the way from Texas?" Fulton asked as Goldberg and Luis burst out laughing.

"You always do what momma says," Dwayne replied with a shrug of his shoulders. "She'll find out if you don't."

"Connie's right; there has to be someone we can talk to," Ken spoke up, looking up from his history book. He was the only one who was actively doing their homework as he served out his time. He put his pencil behind his ear and used his hand to brush back his floppy hair.

"Who are they going to listen to? Some Ducks who got into a fight or a pretty rich boy?" Russ asked, his arms crossed over his chest. He let out a loud, sardonic laugh. "He probably has them wrapped around his finger. I mean, how do you think Adam, Guy, Charlie, and Julie got out of this?"

Silence fell over the group as the door opened and a small man in a tie and blazer walked into the room, carrying what looked like a brief case in his hands. "Stop talking, there is no talking during detention," he said in a drone as if he had said those exact same words a million times. "You are to sit in your seats and do your homework and think about what it is that landed you in here in the first place. If you need to ask for anything, just come up here and ask me directly so you don't disturb the other students."

"Some of us are _already_ disturbed," Russ said under his breath earning a wave of muffled snorts and giggles. The man at the front of the room loudly cleared his throat as he moved to sit down behind the large desk at the front of the room, but didn't say anything else.

Charlie reached into his backpack and pulled out his books, stacking them onto his desk. He flipped open his notebook and grabbed his pen. Glancing at the front of the room, he quickly scribbled (_I have a plan. Jesse helped me think of it_) a note before ripping the sheet of paper out his notebook. Letting out a loud cough to mask the noise, he crumpled the piece of paper up into a ball and threw it at the side of Fulton's head where it bounced off before hitting the ground.

Fulton angled his head in Charlie's direction, widening his eyes in a questioning look before glancing over at the teacher. Charlie pointed at the piece of paper with his pen and mimed opening it. Fulton let out a sigh through his nose and reached his foot out into the aisle, stamping on the paper ball, dragging it back towards him. Charlie watched as Fulton opened the note and mouthed the words scribbled on I before turning back towards him, giving him a confused look.

"Pass it on," Charlie whispered before going back to work on his assignments.

Or at least he tried to. He would've had his homework done the night before if he hadn't spent most of the night scheming with Jesse, and going over and over who they thought the woman driving his step-father was. The only success they had was a very _colorful _way to get the Warriors back. His stomach churned too much to think any more about what was going on with his step-father.

"So, what's the plan, Charlie?" Dwayne asked, removing the hat from his head, holding it over his mouth.

Before Charlie could answer, there was a loud knock on the door. The door was pulled open and Julie stepped inside. "Mr. Buchanan, the Dean needs you in his office," she said to the teacher, holding out a folded piece of paper towards him. "He said it's urgent."

The teacher took the piece of paper and unfolded it, reading quickly before clearing his throat. "I see," Mr. Buchanan said as he got to his feet, smoothing down his tie. "Kids, I'm going to be leaving for a little while. I trust that you can stick to doing your assignments?"

"Ah, yes, sir, I'll be sure to keep an eye on them," Goldberg said, putting a hand in the air, giving the teacher a warm smile. He folded his hands together on his desk.

"You do that," Mr. Buchanan replied as he packed up his stuff. He zipped up his bag before making his way out of the room, mumbling to himself. Seconds later, Danielle slipped into the room, closing it behind her.

"That should hold him for at least fifteen minutes," she announced, peeking out the window on the door. "You gotta act fast."

"So, what's the plan, Charlie?" Ken asked as everyone turned in their seats to face him.

"I overheard some of the Varsity the other day saying that we were only brought to this school for the publicity and to get some of the alumni to donate more money to the school for the sports program," Charlie explained as he lifted his backpack off of the floor. "That we're only brought in for some color so…why not give them some color?"

"What do you mean?" Fulton asked.

"I mean…" Charlie trailed off as he unzipped a pocket of his backpack. He pushed down the front of the pocket and packet after packet of orange Kool-Aid spilled out onto his desk. "_This_."

"You're going to make them drinks?" Averman asked, his eyebrows shooting up. "Great, plan, Charlie. We'll give them some refreshments for _after _they beat us down."

"Where did you get all that, anyway?" Connie asked.

"You'd be surprised at how many kids stop by Mickey's Diner," he replied, shifting his eyes over towards. "JV and Varsity practice times were switched, right?"

"Yep, the Warriors are out on the ice right now," Julie replied, with a nod of her head. "We checked before we came over here." She lifted her wrist, glancing at her watch. "We've gotta act fast."

"Alright, alright," Charlie replied. He started talking quickly. "Remember that time I got into my mom's spray tan stuff during Pee Wee's when I thought it was hairspray and Fulton called me Pumpkin for two weeks?"

"Sorry about that, dude," Fulton said with a slight cringe and a little bit of a laugh. "It _was _pretty funny." Charlie waved away the snorts of laughter from the rest of his team.

"Well, thanks to Jesse's idea, the whole school will think the Varsity team looks like Oompa Loompas," Charlie replied with a smug smile. "We're going to put these in their shower heads."

"What about Adam and Guy?" Russ asked, picking up a packet of Kool-Aid, slapping it into his palm. "I mean, they're part of Varsity now, too. Guy said he was going to check out a couple practices with the Warriors before making his decision."

"We won't touch them, don't worry. I already told them about the plan," Charlie replied as he started to grab packs of Kool-Aid, shoving them into Luis's hands. "Luis, you're the fastest one here, get going. We'll be right behind you."

"Got it," Luis replied, giving a thumbs up before heading out of the room with Danielle opening the door for him.

"What if the teacher comes back?" Connie asked, glancing at the Kool-Aid uneasily despite moving closer to Charlie's desk, looking more and more interested.

"Mr. Buchanan's teaches my section of Advanced English," Julie explained with a smile. "He can get side tracked by anything for any given amount of time." She gave a brief shake of her head. "If anybody stops him in the hall, it'll buy us more time. I don't think we have anything to worry about."

"We just have to get back here before the Dean comes to release you," Danielle added. "And to make sure you get your homework done."

Fulton let out a groan, rolling his eyes. "Do you _ever _not worry about schoolwork?" he asked her.

"Orion is going to kill us at practice today just for the detention alone and I don't think you're going to want to worry about homework even when you're six feet under," Danielle replied, planting her hands on her hips. "You'll thank me later."

Silence then fell over the group as they exchanged smiles. "Yeeehaw," Dwayne exclaimed, grasping his hat, throwing it up into the air before catching it in his hands. "Let's git 'er done."

"I think the operative word here is 'sweet'," Russ said with a grin, waggling his eyebrows.

"Alright, boys," Charlie said with a grin. Julie loudly cleared her throat and he quickly corrected himself. "And girls. Let's roll."

* * *

"Ugh," Charlie groaned as he slowly made his way into his dorm room, wiping his orange stained fingers on his damp towel before running the towel over his head. "I've washed my hands three times and I can't get it off."

"I think the Varsity are having the same problem," Adam laughed, tossing his cell phone to the end of his bed.

"You could've told me the shower heads leaked," Charlie groaned, tossing his towel onto his desk chair before moving to drop down onto his bed. "It's going to take forever to get this off."

"Might want to start wearing gloves unless you want to be caught orange handed," Adam replied.

"Ha, freakin', ha," Charlie replied dryly. He reached for his pillow and flung it across the room to his friend. Adam ducked his head and the pillow hit the wall with a soft _whump_. "How was practice today?"

"It was…pretty good," Adam replied after a moment of silence. "Much more intense though. Not like how Orion was the other day but…" He let out a heavy sigh. "It's going to be a lot of hard work. It's like my dad says, 'Hard work builds character'."

"Hey, no one on the team works harder than you do," Charlie replied as he reached for his school book. He let out a groan; his muscles bulged as he lifted his backpack onto his bed. "Was that your dad?"

"Yeah, I was telling him how practice went," Adam replied with a sigh. "He's already making plans to meet with Coach Wilson and to sit in on some practices." He

"At least your dad goes to your practices and games," Charlie replied, flipping open his book. "Kyle always says that he'll try and get there but…" He shrugged his shoulders. "I mean mom even made time to see us in California."

"He's probably just busy, Charlie," Adam replied, getting off of his bed. He crossed the room to his dresser and opened a drawer to pull out a change of clothes before reaching for the towel hanging off of his open closet door. "Your mom probably doesn't make a lot at the diner."

Charlie caught a glimpse of Adam's initials embroidered on his towel worked hard to keep his face neutral as a pang of jealousy hit his chest. _Easy for you to say_. _You're loaded._ He had noticed that she had been covering more shifts at the diner. His scholarship had covered everything from tuition to room & board, to required textbooks, but she still wanted to be able to give him some extra spending money, especially for the bus.

"Yeah," Charlie agreed with a nod of his head. He tapped his pen against his notebook repeatedly before chewing on the cap. "What does your mom think about your dad and hockey?"

"I don't know," Adam replied with a shrug, reaching for his shower caddy. "They fight about it sometimes, I guess. She complains that he doesn't give her enough attention but, he just buys her something expensive and she drops the subject." He tossed his towel over his shoulder. "Wait a couple months and it happens all over again."

Charlie blinked as realization hit him like a hard check to the gut. His mom spent countless hours doing everything she could to make sure that not only he got to practices and games on time, but that she could attend games as well. He was always her first priority and Kyle hardly ever tried.

_And they did start to get into a fight at the diner about me_, Charlie thought to himself. "Hey, Adam, you don't think that—"

Charlie jumped when their dorm door burst open. He caught a glimpse of a couple Varsity players with water guns in their hands before he was being doused with ice cold water. "Hey!" Charlie shouted, lifting his hands to cover his face. Water dripped down his back, his shirt quickly stuck to his skin.

"Knock it off!" Adam called from across the room.

"I thought all Ducks liked the water," a called out before loud laughter rang in Charlie's ears. He slowly lowered his arms and his world went white as something exploded against his chest. There was another burst of laughter before the Varsity players hurried out of the room, their voices echoing down the hall.

"Ohh…man," Charlie groaned between hard coughs. Dust flew into his mouth with each breath, ticking his throat and lungs. "What…is…this?"

"Flour," Adam replied. Charlie shook his head, white clouds floating down around his head. It had already started to cake on his wet skin. He and Adam started to spit, trying to remove the flower from their lips. "We were flour bombed. At least I was already going to take a shower.

Charlie slowly climbed out of his bed and made his way out the open door and into the hallway where he was joined with other flour covered Ducks. "That…was not cool," Ken commented. His dark locks were not a light gray color and continued to drip tracks through the flower on his face.

"I didn't see that coming," Guy said, running a hand through his hair, trying to get the flour out of his hair, managing to make the clumps of water get stuck that much more. "They thought the Kool-Aid thing was funny."

"Or that's what they wanted you to think," Averman replied, using his fingers to try and wipe the flour from his glasses before he removed them entirely.

"I'm going to pound them," Fulton groaned, using his bandana to wipe off his face. He then handed it over to Danielle you used it to carefully remove the flour from around her eyes.

"Or we could get even," Julie replied as she used her shirt collar to carefully remove the flour from around her eyes.

"That's exactly what I was thinking," Russ said.

"I don't care what we do, I just need a shower," Connie groaned, frantically trying to wipe the flower off of her clothes.

"This means war," Charlie declared.

* * *

**A/N: **Thanks to everyone who gave me tips/ideas on how to speed up this story. I've also looked at some other ideas and have some ideas as to why it was boring and slow:

-It's a story set in school, but currently shows more school stuff than hockey

-The main plot points are progressing slowly

-Chapters are too long/could be shorter and there are scenes that I can take out

-I do more telling than showing

-I overcompensate for my previous lack of description by adding too much/I need to work on having a more direct form of story telling

-It's simply just that: boring and slow

I've been reading up as much as possible on ways to pick up the pace and how that it's being executed properly. I can only learn from trying. Thanks to everyone that has checked out my story thus far.


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